Zero
by Imaginationburstingout
Summary: Everyone was expecting the explosion of a failed spell courtesy of one Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Vallière but what they weren't expecting were the black golems that came out of her explosion and the most unexpected thing they had seen was Louise looking similar to those black golems, she looked like Louise but at the same time she didn't look like her. What is going on?
1. The New Zero

**The New Zero**

* * *

"_Richie, can you hear me?"_

_Static_

"_Richie, respond,"_

_None_

"_Richie, this is Red Alpha please respond!"_

_No response, she clenched her metallic fist tighter._

"_Red Seven you better respond this instant cause if you don't then god forbid what I am going to do with you!" she yelled._

_Static… then, "Cut me some slack cap," the voice said weakly._

"_I am not going to listen to you complaining, I'm ordering you to move to the safehouse," she said firmly._

"_No can-do cap,"_

"_Richie, this is not the time for heroics, you better move your ass cause I'm not going back and carry it for y-"_

"_I'm a lost cause cap… I'm running on reserve energy… my lower body's gone… bastards… took everything,"_

"_Red Seven… Red Seven!"_

"_It was… an honour… ca-"_

_A series of coughs came out of her end. Once the coughing stopped the one named Richie gave slight groan, through the speaker she could hear the sound of mechanics at work, the sounds of hydraulics and of course the unforgettable sound of a low and deep beep of a Ravager._

"_Huh… came back to… take the… rest of me?"_

_The one Richie was talking to didn't respond instead heavy footfalls left her comm followed by Richie's last words._

"_Go on and take it… DOWN IN THE DEEPEST PARTS OF HELL!"_

_The line between her and Richie was replaced by the usual static. She tried to re-establish the connection but all she got was the same static. Exactly nine seconds later an explosion echoed across the never-ending desert. _

"_FUCK!" she screamed in anger._

_Reigning on her anger she looked at the unconscious person that was the cause of the entire ordeal, a girl with long pink hair, she wore unusual clothes that could be considered normal five hundred years ago, along that she also wore a black cape and on her hip was a short stick._

"_You better be worth the fucking trip," she snarled._

_She trudged on not even giving time to mourn for the loss of his entire team lest she wanted to join them._

* * *

It was that time of the year again, Springtime Summoning Festival; the time when the second years of Tristain Magical Academy finally summon their own servants or more specifically – a familiar. Most of the students were nothing short of excited! Excited in a sense that they will finally have a loyal servant that would cater to their every whim, and would perform to the best of their abilities. Aside from that they were also anxious, anxious about what kind of familiar they would get for it is said that summoned familiars were the ones that mirrored the master's personality and their affinity for something. That anxiety that most student had was over taken by excitement though so it didn't matter.

"I sure do hope that everyone is here. Now I know that you are all excited to summon your familiars but before we begin the festival allow me to repeat what I said yesterday," Jean Colbert said.

Groans from the class was the reply that he heard, he gave a smile at the youth's reaction, "Remember that the Springtime Summoning Festival is a tradition that has been practiced in this academy ever since it was discovered, anything going against this tradition will be faced with immediate expulsion but I know that you're all capable nobles and you would be able to complete the summoning without breaking this tradition. With that being said let us begin the festival!"

Once the first student was called the summoning began. The whole summoning went without a hitch, mages from the second-year class summoned a variety of familiars ranging from the domestic dog to Tabitha's outlandish dragon, though it was to be expected from her. Eventually the last of the students finally summoned their familiars.

"Is there anyone who hasn't summoned their familiar yet?" he asked the class.

"There is one Professor," the voice that belonged to Kirche said.

"Who would that be, Miss Zerbst?" he asked.

"Why it's none other than Louise!" she said with a smile.

Said girl flinched, uncharacteristically she shrunk behind her peers in an attempt to make herself invisible but it was not to be as the entire class parted exposing herself to her professor. The fire mage gave a calming smile and gave some encouraging words. Trapped between a rock and a hard place she had to choose the easier route and proceeded to the summoning circle.

Louise Francoise Le Blanc e La Valliere or more known around the academy as the one who couldn't cast a single spell, bearing the moniker of 'Zero'. For reasons unknown to her every single spell she had casted ever since she held a wand would always spontaneously combust. The most basic rule of magic is that when a spell explodes then it means that the caster had done something wrong; whether it was because of the lack of willpower, you they didn't picture the desired imaged well enough the result would always be the same, either a small spark or a big explosion but today that was going to change.

She took a deep breath and focused, "My servant that exist somewhere in this vast universe. My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call. I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"

"_Quite dramatic for my taste but then again Mister Guiche's incantation was much more dramatic than that,"_ Colbert thought.

After all of that the spell that she had cast yielded the same results – an explosion. Cries from both the students being thrown off and their familiars panicked at the sudden but expected explosion. Fortunately, most of the students were a few meters away from the blast radius. Teases coming out of the mouths of nobles.

"As expected from someone with the moniker of 'Zero'!"

"What ever you try the result would always be that same!"

"So much for that dramatic incantation,"

Kirche gave a laugh meanwhile the girl right beside her continued to read the book that was on her hands. While these happened, Jean Colbert was clearing his robes of dust and soot, once he considered himself clean he gave the entire class a stern look silencing all of them.

"You are all nobles and you are showing bringing a shameful sight if you continue this teasing," he said.

Once the whole class was quiet he turned back to the smoke that had gathered because of his student, he started to say the incantations for a spell that would clear out the smoke when all of a sudden, his old military instincts came in and screamed at him to dodge this instant. Not one to deny his instincts he did just that. True to his instinct's word something metallic came out of the smoke that landed just in front of his class.

Curiosity overcame the class as the ones nearest to the metallic object neared and had a look at what was thrown in their direction. It turns out it wasn't an object but a golem, it had the physique of that of a knight – large and tall, its entire body was black but upon closer look they could all see that the golem had some intricate lines that stretched all across its body.

"What is that?" one student asked.

"Probably a golem," another replied.

"Are you telling me that Louise the Zero _actually _summoned a familiar?" one said with slight shock.

"What are you all talking about?" a voice asked making all of the curious head turn.

Guiche walked towards the group, "This is Louise we're talking about, you know, the one who could never cast a single spell," he reminded.

The shock that was on the students eased, Guiche walked towards the lying down golem, "Besides, I doubt she would be able to summon a golem, especially when she can't even cast levitate," he said while kicking the golem.

The whole class gave a laugh, unbeknownst to them the lines that were on the golem glowed red and slowly traced itself all the was up to its head. A deep humming sound came from the golem. After Guiche was done gloating he turned around only to feel something cold that wrapped around his neck, he was lifted up the ground with ease. What came face to face with him was none other than the black golem.

"Unhand me this instant!" he said while looking at the now active golem.

It didn't respond instead it brought its other arm up and balled it to a fist.

"You would dare hit a noble!? I tell you my father is a gener-"

Guiche never managed to finish his sentence when the golem's fist suddenly split apart and what came out froze his blood – a sort of blade that gave a deep 'vroom' sound. Upon closer look, not just Guiche but the whole class could see that there were some small blades that were circulating around the perimeter of the blade. A scream from a girl came and that was more than enough to jog everyone from their shock. They all backed away as fast as they could from the black golem while leaving the young Grammont to his own.

"Mister Grammont!" Colbert yelled while already in the middle of casting a fire spell but even at this distance he knew that his spell wouldn't make it.

Guiche shut his eyes as blade closed the gap

A second passed and another and another eventually he opened his eyes to see something that surprised him; the arm that turned into a blade became nothing more than a stub. Suddenly he felt weightless, he gave a cry as his bottom hit the ground, looking up he got a good look at the now unarmed golem. The red lines of the golem suddenly flickered then the next thing he knew the golem had a bright orange diagonal line stretching from its right shoulder all the way down to its hip. The top part of the golem fell on the ground with a heavy thud frightening the young Grammont while the other half fell backwards.

He looked back up to see his saviour only to have his eyes open in shock. Her entire skin was a steel grey, she wore a white shirt that seemed to fit just right for her stature and some sort of pants that were the colour of khaki, she also had those intricate lines similar to the black golem but there was another feature he noticed, while the golem had a more linear form of body his saviour had more curves expressing that his saviour was a female but the most obvious feature that he saw which told him that the one who saved him was a female was the hair, or more importantly her _pink_ hair.

"L-Louise?" he asked still trying to shake the surprise in his face.

Murmurs erupted from the crowd but they were suddenly stopped when the petite girl _actually_ lifted up Guiche using the back of his uniform with relative ease despite her being shorter than him. Once he found his footing he gave a muffled scoff. He was about to give a cheeky reply about how saving him doesn't mean he'll stop calling teasing her when suddenly she he was pushed, harshly, away from the girl.

"How dare you push me!" he said while fixing himself again.

He looked up and to his shock there was another black golem but this time Louise was standing in between him and the golem, she crossed her arms forming an 'X' and raised is just in time to block the attack from the black golem.

Sparks flew was the golem's rapidly rotating blade battled for dominance with Louise's arms. Despite her short stature everyone assembled in the courtyard was rather shocked because Louise, the short-tempered, talentless, frail girl was actually holding against something that was able to lift Guiche up with ease. The struggle finally stopped when Louise shifted her entire body to the right while guiding the blade downwards. The golem over extended itself and stumbled only to reel upwards was Louise's knee slammed into its abdomen.

She wasn't done however, at the soles of her feet a loud humming sound suddenly made itself known around the courtyard, that loud humming became a loud but short explosion which propelled her knee upwards sending the golem at least three hundred feet above, while that golem was above she immediately placed her feet back on the only this time placing further away making her form lower. She brought her right arm up on her face, the class was stunned again when her arm suddenly split and made a circular shield big enough to cover two thirds of her body.

The deployment of the shield proved to be a smart choice as the sound of lightning suddenly cracked from the cloud of dust that formed from her failed spell, the sound of metal hitting metal at high speeds resonated from Louise's shield, she didn't stay on the same spot however as she used her legs to push against the hail of bullets that was peppering her only protection. Surrounding her screams from the class entered her ears as they tried to dodge the bullets that were ricocheting from her shield, a chance presented itself when the sound of clicking reached her ears, disassembling the shield she placed both of her hands behind her with her palms exposed, similar to earlier a short explosion came out of her palms which launched her towards the one responsible for shooting her at great speeds that the smoke that accumulated had split because of her speed. The gap between her and the golem became smaller and before the golem could shoot again its arm had already been held by her.

Louise gave a war cry as she swung the golem and threw it at the class' direction, girlish shrieks echoed the courtyard as the thrown golem was closing in on them, Guiche was about to bring up an earth wall when all of a sudden, the golem that Louise had kneed collided with the golem that she threw, then the next thing that happened were too fast for anyone to process even for the retired veteran. One moment Louise was at the place from where she threw the golem then she was now just face to face with Guiche with a blade that protruded at the top of her arm extended. The two golems that collided with each other split into four pieces a bright orange rim was seen where Louise had most likely sliced on.

Louise exhaled, steam coming out of her mouth and in between the lines that make up her body. She stood up properly this time while disengaging the blade. She looked around the class hoping to find the person she was looking for. She looked behind to see Jean Colbert standing still in shock, "Mr. Colbert!"

This seemed to jog the man from his shock, "Um yes, what do you need Ms. Valliere?"

"Evacuate everyone from this place right now," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked with confusion.

"This courtyard isn't safe anymore,"

"But you have already defeated those golems," he reasoned.

The reply he got was silence, curiosity came over him as he looked at the place where she was staring at – the bodies of the golems.

Suddenly the sound of something rattling made itself known throughout the courtyard, Louise clicked her tongue, "I knew it, everyone get behind me!" she commanded.

Either they did it out of fear or subconsciously they followed her order, all eyes were now glued to the destroyed golems; the three golems slowly but surely collapsed but the way they collapsed was similar to when someone poured acid on a thin surface and the acid would start dissolving the area where they were split. When all the bodies had finally collapsed what they saw were black sand. The sand began to move further away from the entire class, when all of the black particles finally was far enough it began to rise up and started to take form.

First the legs were almost as big as Tabitha's dragon but it didn't stop there the legs stretched to the point where it was half of Kirche's body, the body of the forming golem was next; it had a more wider waist but still retaining the linear form that it had when it was still a small golem, this told Louise that what she will be fighting was more focused on strength rather than agility, the arms were next the left arm formed a menacingly long blade that easily dwarfed any sword that the school's armoury had, the other arm was formed into a claw like hand that was suitable for grabbing her lithe figure. Finally, the head that was formed from the sand was bulky telling her that slicing the head is a no-go, Lines connected all the way to the chest area telling Louise it's weak point.

Its eyes finally light up and locked with Louise, the girl in particular snarled, "Just my luck, a Ravager,"

The Ravager reeled back and gave a loud hum that was equivalent to a beast's roar. It echoed throughout the academy grounds. Meanwhile Louise unleashed her arm-blades then did one last thing that surprised the entire class large grey things protruded from her back which gave hum while also giving a light pink glow, with this she started to float.

She gave a look at Colbert, "Evacuate everyone from this academy, I'll buy you guys some time!"

With a burst of speed, she charged the Ravager while giving a war cry.

* * *

**A/N: Well what do you guys think? I'll be straight here, I've always wanted to make my own world. While making crossovers is nice there's always that one thing that's limiting me so I decided to make my own world. By the way that entire conversation at the beginning? It has some relevance. I you guys are still having some trouble picturing what Louise looks like then I'll happily tell you: she has the body of Alita after she donned on her newer and stronger armour, her arm blades are similar to that of Alisa along with the wings on her back, there's more about Louise than what I'm describing you by the way. If you want to know more then I urge you to read this as the world where Louise got reversed summoned is an original (Well as original as I can make it)**

**Anyways I hope you all enjoy this chapter and with that I bid you all adieu!**

**Peace~**


	2. A adflictorem ac venatorio

**A adflictorem ac venatorio**

* * *

"_She's in a critical state, right now the best thing I could do is give her some clean oxygen from all of the spare tanks that we got… besides why are you asking me?! I'm a bot that fixes Claw Hunters not… flesh-skins," the robot said while giving several beeps that told Alban that he was shuddering._

"_C'mon you're probably the most qualified person to do this job – there has to be something you can do, besides… Captain won't stop pressing me to tell you the same thing,"_

"_If Captain wants that flesh-skin to live then she should do the job herself," the bot muttered._

"_Don't you have something in that robot brain of yours that could help her out? I don't know like a Pre-world technique?"_

_The bot gave some slight beeps then came back to Alban with a response, "Surprisingly there's one right here, question is I don't know if we have the right materials to help her out though,"_

"_Well, what items do you need? And I'll gather them for you,"_

_Bench started list down the things he required to perform the operation. Alban brought up her arm and a holographic screen appeared, she began typing the items Bench was requesting while giving some confused looks at most of the items he's requested mostly because they sounded weird and even spelled weird._

"_Bench… what's a sc-scalpel? what's this thing?" Albas said while pointing at the particular word._

"_You can ask me later; do you want me to save her or not?" Bench asked._

_Any further questions that were on Alban's mind we put on a hold as she continued to list down the items that looked weird to her but was in the norm five hundred or so years ago._

* * *

Louise dodged just in time to avoid the massive blade that would have bisected her mere milliseconds ago. Dodging the sword meant that she was at a weird angle in mid-air, usually this would spell bad for anyone as you practically can't do anything while in mid-air but thanks to her wings and arm propulsions she manager to gain control of her body.

Not even a moment the systems in her brain screamed at her that something big was closing in on her person, she did not deny the system's demand so she crossed her arms just in time to feel the powerful impact of the Ravager's fist hitting her entire lithe body. The impact sent her flying towards the other side of the courtyard at speeds almost reaching speeds of a fired bullet.

She gave a grunt when her back hit and collapsed the granite wall that made up of most of the academy, red flashed in her vision and notifications of her hitting something hard came up, a scream from a girl entered her ears, looking down she could see Montmorency staring up at her – too scared to move. Louise clicked her tongue she tried to move only to feel her right arm trapped. With one powerful tug she wrenched her arm out of the debris, part of the wall collapsed due to the missing support that was her arm. Once she was unhindered she glared at the blonde with fury.

"WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?!"

Montmorency for her part flinched at her voice, she tried to say something only for it to get caught up in her throat. With too much pointless time wasted she looked up and gave shocked expression as the Ravager was only fifty meters and closing in on them in an incredible pace. Not wasting time, she stood up and placed her hand behind her lower hip. A circular compartment opened in her lower hip and from that compartment a black ball landed on her palm. Without hesitation she threw the ball at the Ravager using her enhanced strength – the moment the ball left her hand a small sonic boom echoed across the school.

The ball collided with the Ravager's chest but that didn't hinder it despite getting hit by an object that was passing the speed of sound but that wasn't the point of the ball; the ball then split up in to four quarter-spheres that planted themselves on the ground in a wide square. Once the Ravager's whole body entered the square it was immediately held in place and try as it might it couldn't even gain a single inch of ground. Louise used this spare time to approach the blonde girl with ringlets.

Before Montmorency could say anything though she was immediately lifted off the ground by the pink haired girl and was carried like a how a newly wedded husband would to his wife the only difference being that it wasn't a wedding but a battlefield. She gave an indignant cry but all complaints were tuned out as Louise used her wings to fly her out of the danger zone, of course as soon as the pair left the ground the blonde girl screamed about falling off and other complaints the were again tuned out by the pink haired girl.

"You can complain to me later but right now the only thing that's stopping that Ravager from killing you is that EMP field," Louise said while using her enhanced vision to locate the rest of the class, fortunately she didn't have to look very far as the entire class was two courtyards away from the battle.

Upon landing she gently dropped the alchemist, Guich approached her girlfriend – worry etched across his face. After the two made their reunion Louise was prepared to re-join the battle only to stopped when someone called out to her. Looking to where the voice came from she spotted the headmaster of the school approaching her with worry.

"Miss Valliere what is going on?"

"I have no time to explain, that Ravager should be about halfway down to disabling that EMP field that I made,"

The headmaster contemplated for a second but in the end rested his case for the time being, "Very well but after this I expect you to come to my office and explain the entire situation,"

"If I make it out of this alive," Louise mumbled.

This of course reached the ears of both Colbert and Osmund, when the war veteran asked she gave a scoff and looked at them both dead in the eye, "You guys don't get it, Ravagers adapt to their surroundings the longer they live. The longer they live they become more destructive they become, "

That was all that was said before she deployed her wings again and left the gathering. Both of the men looked at each other with worry but relented and just hoped that Louise would be able to defeat it while they made their way out of the academy.

Meanwhile Louise spotted the Ravager already destroying the final quarter-sphere that made up the entire EMP field, the cage it was trapped in flickered before finally dying. It looked up and saw Louise closing in on it at great speeds, it tried to block its incoming attack but Louise was simply too fast for the Ravager. Louise berated herself inside her head as she could see the result of her latest attack; a large diagonal slash is clearly visible on the Ravager's chest. The reason she was berating herself was because her attack wasn't deep enough, despite getting a clean hit she never managed to hit the most vital part of the Ravager – the core. Said core was more visible because of the large gash on the chest area, it glowed a bright red before it gave a low, baritone beep sending a wave of red on the lines of the Ravager, the lines travelled throughout the body but it was obvious that it was all of the red lines traced all the way to the Ravager's free hand.

Louise immediately flared her wings pressed her attack; a large crater formed from where she was. She closed the distance between them while pulling her blade arm backwards preparing for another attack. Her blade contacted with metal but unfortunately it was a metal that she didn't want, the blade collided with a wide shield, a shield that was once the Ravager's free hand, she clicked her tongue – for she had been too slow and now it had adapted. Cursing herself she tried to back off only to discover that her blade had embedded itself on the shield, she looked to her side only to see the sword coming down on her. Choosing the easier route, she detached the blade narrowly avoiding the blade that could've cut her arm off. With a backflip she made some space between her and the newly equipped Ravager.

Detecting that Louise was now on the defensive since she lost one of her weapons it was not time for the Ravager to take the offensive. Louise bent her legs in preparation as the distance between her and her enemy became shorter and shorter. Louise jumped up just in time to avoid the sideswipe only to have her whole body fold in half as the tip of the shield collided with her torso, she gritted her mouth hard, red flashed everywhere across her vision but she dismissed it as she was launched yet again to the wall. She stopped herself from colliding against the wall by opening her wings and exerted as much thrust to stop he backwards momentum. Unfortunately, she wasn't given any respite because as soon as she found her balance she was forced to dodge an overhead strike. He alarms yelled at her again as something was approaching her. Cutting off her wings she dropped from the air in order to dodge the shield that was supposed to bash her to the wall.

The Ravager this time was the one in a complicated situation as it thrusted its shield therefore exposing its body to Louise. Louise spanned her wings and entered the Ravager's defence, using the right arm blade she used it to slice the core of the Ravager through the gash that she had created seconds ago. Fate wasn't on her side though was the blade merely scratched it leaving a small gash but nonetheless it was still functioning. Due to her missed attack the Ravager used it to its advantage by raising the sword upwards, despite all of the warnings the system insider is yelling she couldn't dodge just in time, the blade caught her right arm slicing it cleanly off, while no blood came out of the arm the pain receptors on the arm still registered through her brain.

"AAAAAHHH!"

Pushing past the pain she rotated herself in mid air till both of her feet were aiming at the chest of the Ravager, she planted a foot on its chest and unleashed a large explosion that threw her enemy all the way to the other end of the courtyard. While this proved quite effective it was also a double-edged sword as the explosion was too much for her leg, she gave muffled scream as she looked at her now blown up left leg. Ignoring the pain from both her missing right arm and left leg she looked at the Ravager whom was already standing up. Something came to her attention; at the very tip of the Ravager's blade was her right arm, berated herself again now that it had a piece of her, she could have retrieved the arm but with her current condition she thought it would be best not to.

The Ravager placed the torn arm close to the core, a red beam touched the arm. This red beam then started to disassemble the arm down to the molecular level while absorbing it, once the entire arm was 'eaten' the Ravager's entire body glowed a bright red, when the glow finally died down the Louise could finally see the effects of assimilating her arm into the Ravager; the gash that she had created moments ago was not there anymore and any sort of damage that she had done throughout the whole fight was voided. Her expression darkened with her current condition she knew that fighting the Ravager would be suicidal but if she lets the machine lose then it would go on a rampage and could possibly bring about the end of the world.

She has no choice but to fight it. The black machine gave a low hum similar to a roar of a beast, it charged at her but Louise tuned it out.

She took a deep breath and fell forward and went on all fours except with only the right arm and the left leg supporting her while in this form she also flared her wings.

The distance between them became smaller.

A low humming sound that was slowly rising in pitch entered Louise's ears, the intricate lines that marked her whole body started to glow pink, steam started to escape in between the glowing pink lines, additionally with each breath she took steam also escaped out of her mouth.

20 meters

Arcs of pink electricity started to form around her.

15 meters

She opened her eyes; her vision was surrounded by plenty of warnings but like the time she lost her right arm she dismissed it as well.

10 meters

"Let's see if you live through this!" she yelled.

5 meters

Her wings released a large force behind her _destroying _the entire wall that was behind her at the same time her left foot also gave out a large force that launched her towards the Ravager at an alarming speed that started from zero all the way up to Mach 5 for every meter she crossed she and additional Mach 5 was added.

By the time she reached the Ravager she was going at Mach 20.

* * *

The sound of a loud explosion made it into everyone's ears, students screamed in terror as the ground quaked as the result of the explosion. Meanwhile Colbert had left the group in hopes of helping the young Valliere along side him were both Tabitha and Kirche, if this were any other day he would have told them sternly to go back to class but with the current situation he'll just scold them later.

When they reached the place where Louise and the 'Ravager' fought they were filled with shock; craters littered the entire place, footprints from the Ravager were seen everywhere. Its as if a great battle took place – to which they weren't far from the truth. They glanced up to only have Colbert to drop his jaw at the destroyed wall, from what he understood; the walls in the academy were enchanted with spells that would protect the walls from assaults from catapults so he had to wonder what caused the wall to be destroyed. Aside from that they also saw the Ravager now sporting a hole in the centre that allowed them to see through it, just behind the Ravager was none other than Louise.

They ran up to her only to look at her in horror at her current state, her left arm was bent in such a way that shouldn't even be possible, her right arm was missing and both of her legs looked like it was caught in a very powerful explosion. Steam wafted from her body along with the occasional pink sparks, Colbert had to shield his face at the amount of heat she was giving off, she looked at Tabitha who didn't need to be told twice. With a short incantation she conjured an ice block with which she was going to use to cool her off. She was about to place it on her when a voice stopped her from doing so.

"STOP YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HER!"

The group of three turned around to look at the owner of the voice; it was another golem but it was different from the black ones Louise had fought; its main colour was blue with white lines on its sides, it didn't sport a head instead it was dome, its body was cylindrical in shape, on the bottom it was giving out some sort of glow similar to Louise's wings which made it float.

"Stop, any closer and we'll consider you an enemy!" Colbert said while pointing his staff at the bot.

Colbert would have said more had a certain someone not interrupted, "B-Bench? I-is that…y-you?"

Colbert looked back, worry etched across his face "Miss Valliere!"

"Please… let Bench… come to me… professor," Louise said weakly.

Heeding to her words he moved sideways allowing the now named golem, Bench to approach her. A blue line scanned her entire being, "You've really done it this time Louise,"

"Why does… it… matter… I destroyed... the Ravager," she replied.

"I don't even think I can fix you up, the best I can do would be probably to cool you down so that you don't overheat,"

"Then would… this help?" she asked while letting of a red orb that was giving a low hum.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bench asked rhetorically.

"Y-you bet… it is," Louise said then she gave weak smile.

Like Louise a blue line passed over the orb, "I can't believe it a Ravager's core,"

"Can you…d-do it Bench?" she asked but it was more like a whisper.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Bench asked with mock offense.

"That's… good," Louise said before finally succumbing to her wounds.

Bench looked at Colbert and gave stern order, "Take me to where your clinic, I have a Hunter to repair!"

* * *

**A/N: HOOO BOY WRITING THIS CHAPTER WAS TOUGH! To be honest I wanted the whole fight but then I realized that if Louise got out of that fight unscathed then all of you wouldn't be able to gauge how powerful a Ravager would be. How powerful is Louise? I'll give you a hint, her body is unique. **

**Alright lets get on to the comments!**

**Robo Reader 21: Thanks for your opinion and I will try my hardest to improve, hopefully this chapter is an improvement from the first chapter.**

**And without further ado I bid you all adieu**

**Peace~**


	3. A Long Fix (REWRITTEN)

**A Long Fix**

* * *

_In the middle of the night a shriek made itself known waking up anyone within its circle of influence. Alban flinched her head up from the desk upon hearing the shriek, it didn't take long for her to connect two and two together to know whom belonged that voice. Standing up from her work space she tiredly walked towards the chamber where they housed the pink haired girl._

_Upon rounding the corner, she finally saw the girl who was on the ground unmoving, while it was too dark for her eyes to see, the erratic breathing pattern told her that the patient was hyperventilating. She crouched down and grabbed her prone position, still carrying her she walked towards the spare bedroom that Bench had prepared in the event that she wakes up. When she entered the room's, sensors detected their heat signatures and turned the lights on._

_With the lights on she could finally see the patients face, she looked around in a panic as she tried to get her bearings. When their eyes locked she glared at them, though to Alban it might as well looked like a Pit looking at her when you dangle a treat on top of it. To be frank it was a cute sight._

"_Don't worry, you're safe," She said._

_The girl seemed to do a double take, "H-how can I understand you?"_

"_That? Oh, we installed a neural chip in the back of your brain, that chip the language of Banscroft. You should get some rest, you were in a very critical state when we found you,"_

"_What do you mean? I was just at the [Tristain Magical Academy] trying to summon a [Familiar]… did you kidnap me!? And what do you mean by that last statement,"_

"_I don't know what [Tristen Magus Akamedy] or [Femiliar] means… there seems to be a bug in that chip we put in you… other than that what makes you think we kidnapped you? And for your second question… you were having a severe case of nuclear fever, while it was curable we didn't know if our treatments would work on you as you were a flesh-skin,"_

"_Nuclear fever? Flesh-skin?" the patient asked._

_Alban gave her an incredulous look, "You've never heard of Nuclear fever? Have you been living under a rock?"_

_The patient glared at her carrier in anger, "How dare you insult me, a [Noble]!"_

"_Yep definitely a bug in the chip," she muttered, "Anyways get some rest and by tomorrow you should be all better," she said completely deny what she had said._

"_Wait, you never told me that a flesh-skin is," the patient called out._

"_Good night," Alban said while waving one of her back arms at her_

_While this seemed like a normal gesture to Louise it wasn't even the slightest bit normal. After all no one sprouted metallic arms from their backs and waved as if it was an everyday thing. She reached out her hand and tried to grab he but then noticed another detail that rocked her entire world; for what reached out to Alban was not a hand of her own._

_She moved it to the left and it followed, right, left. Then she traced the whole metallic arm all the way down to its base – the lower she reached the more her heart raced. When she finally reached the place where her arms were what she saw was a metallic socket that was attached to where her normal arm should be._

_Another shriek was heard in the workshop. _

**=LINE BREAK=**

Cattleya de La Fontaine looked outside her carriage, worry etched on her face. Beside her Eleonore sat up like a proper noble woman though if Cattleya looked closer she could tell that she too was uneasy. Across the carriage sat their strict mother, reading a book. Just ahead of them was another carriage that was still owned by them but housed a rather important figure – the princess of Tristain, Henrietta de Tristain.

A week ago, Karin was having a peaceful tea with the princess when all of a sudden, a messenger interrupted their tea with a letter courtesy of the Headmaster of the school where the Valliere's youngest studied, usually letters that came from that academy were rather long and winded its as if the letter was trying to soften you up before hitting you with something important. This time around though it was different and that was the first sign that told Karin that something was wrong, next was content of the letter.

_Karin of the Heavy Wind, please come to the academy, something has happened to your daughter._

_-Old Osmund_

She immediately called out to her daughters and bid farewell her husband telling them that they were leaving as soon as asked questions but the curiosity lingered around the family. Just as they were about to leave, Henrietta told them that she too was coming. If it was any other day she would have told Henrietta 'no' but since there was no time she had no choice but to agree, with that decision made up Henrietta's body guards borrowed one of the carriages that belonged to the Valliere household. And now here they are waiting for the carriage to reach their destination.

"Mother, is something the matter?" Eleonore asked.

"This," Karin said while handing them the letter she had received three days ago.

Cattleya leaned to the side to read as well, "What happened to Louise?" she asked with worry.

"Patience, we're about to find out," their mother said.

True to his word the walls of the academy were now visible to them but there was one thing that stood out the most – the large hole in one of the walls that made up the perimeter of the academy. Now, more questions raced all over the Vallieres' and Henrietta's head, wondering as to what caused such damage to the prestigious academy. A few minutes passed and the academy entered the front gates of the school. What should have been a beautiful courtyard was now reduced to nothing more than a battlefield; craters littered the dirt the once lush and green flat area where students would mingle around.

During this time Cattleya had to bite her lower lip and wonder – what happened here? And how could Louise be a part of it? The carriage stopped and the door opened allowing the whole family to come out, already waiting outside were some of the staff that ran the place all lined up nicely. The one who escorted them out of the carriage was Old Osmund – the one responsible for sending them the letter. The second carriage stopped as well and the one who welcomed the passenger was Colbert, he had to do a double take as the princess emerged out of the carriage.

"Princess Henrietta, what an honour to be in your presence!" Colbert said while kneeling down in front of her.

"You may rise," she said while giving a sweet smile to the old veteran.

"We must say, we never expected you to come today. We apologize that you have seen us in our worst condition yet," Old Osmund said while bowing down.

"It is quite alright, it was decided for me to come here in the heat of the moment," she said. "Now, I believe there's a reason for us to be here isn't there?"

"Yes, please follow me," said the headmaster.

The group of nobles left the area and walked with the old man, as they were walking they noticed that the halls of the academy were too quiet to be normal. When Henrietta asked about this the headmaster gave a tired sigh.

"There are things that are happening that even I can't explain, Your Highness. A week ago we've been attacked by a large golem,"

"A golem you say?" Eleonore asked.

"Yes, a golem. Its skin was black in colour with intricate lines all over the body which glowed a deep red. At first, we thought that it was just a harmless golem but we were proven wrong when it started to go on a rampage in the school,"

"Is this golem the one responsible for the destroyed wall?" Karin asked.

"Unfortunately, no, that would be your daughter's doing," Osmund said.

Karin scoffed, "Surely you jest Old Osmund, while I know of my daughter's incapability to perform magic properly, I'm quite confident that even her spells, destructive as they are, couldn't destroy a wall that's extremely thick and is enchanted with some enforcements,"

"Yet here we are looking at the destruction that she made," Old Osmund said.

An awkward silence reigned on the group. Deciding to break the thick ice Cattleya asked another question, "In the letter that you sent us… what has Louise done?"

Old Osmund seemed to flinch slightly at the mention, "I-it's complicated,"

"What do you mean?" Eleonore asked.

"Before I tell you anything else I would like all of you to please keep an open mind about this, Miss Valliere's situation is… outlandish to say the least,"

The group looked at each other with varying expressions of worry any confusion, they all looked at him again ready to hear the news.

"From what I have gathered something or someone changed young Louise's as her body looked similar to those of the golems that had attacked the academy," He paused and looked at them, trying to gauge their reactions. While they were giving him some incredulous looks they didn't say anything so he continued.

He told them what he heard from Guiche, Montmorency, Tabitha, Kirche and even Professor Colbert. The more he talked about it he too also noticed how it almost sounded like he was going senile. By the time the story was done they all looked at him like her had definitely gone senile, he gave tired sigh, from the looks of it they will need some proof to believe his words and thus he stopped just a few meters in front of the wooden shack where Jean Colbert would work on some strange devices.

"Beyond these doors is where Louise reside,"

"If what you say is true, shouldn't she be in the medical ward after fighting that golem?" Cattleya asked.

"Like I said… it's complicated, and like I said earlier please keep an open mind,"

The door to the shack opened and the first thing that they all saw were shocked them to their core, there hanging on some sort of stand was none other than Louise and in her damaged state. Cattleya had to put both of her hands on her mouth as sobbed quietly, seeing this Eleonore immediately comforted her younger sister. Henrietta for her part tried to look indifferent but when her best friend's hanging on something while missing an arm and two legs she couldn't help herself but look in horror at her condition. Finally, there's Karin, she was pissed, while she didn't show it she truly loved her daughter so when she saw her daughter's current state... she restrained herself, while repeating the mantra 'Rule of Steel' in her head.

"I-is that L-Louise?" Eleonore asked. To which Old Osmund gave a sombre nod.

"What caused this?" Karin asked barely containing her anger.

"Something that Louise called a 'Ravager'"

"What's that?" Henrietta asked.

"She told me that it was some sort of golem that adapts to its surrounding and she also told me that the longer it lives the more powerful it gets," Osmund explained.

"Where is this Ravager then?" Karin asked.

"Louise had already defeated it already, singlehandedly"

Even Cattleya's sobbing paused upon hearing those words, "Make no mistake Duchess Valliere, the field that you saw was the result of the battle between you daughter and the Ravager,"

The entire shack silent after that statement, if what the headmaster was true then by judging the damage to one of the walls Karin could tell that Louise required a lot of power so that also tells her that this Ravager is a powerful golem if what they saw in the field was the result of them fighting. While she thought about this Cattleya approached the broken Louise. She reached her hand and was about to touch her.

"Miss Fontaine I don't thi-"Osmond warned but then another voice joined in.

"DON'T EVEN LAY A FINGER ON HER!"

The sudden loud voice made her flinch and they all turned to the owner of the voice.

"W-what are you?" Henrietta asked looking curiously at the floating pod.

The pod never answered instead it looked at the headmaster, "I thought I told Colbert to tell you that no one is suppose to go in this shack?"

Osmund was about to answer when Bench left the entire conversation while still grumbling "I swear, are all flesh-skins like this? They see one thing that they don't recognize and immediately they have the urge to touch it,"

"I-I'm sorry but could you please explain to us why I can't touch my little sister?" Cattleya asked currently forgetting her sadness.

"Your 'little sister'?" Bench asked.

"Yes, we're her family members, so step aside golem," Eleonore said while glowering down at the pod.

"I can't do that,"

"What do you mean?" Karin asked trying to reign her anger due to the amount of disrespect that the golem is giving them.

"I mean I could always leave Louise here to die,"

"So, you're the one in charge of healing her?" Henrietta asked.

"Not heal… repair, Jesus get the two words right, she isn't exactly human anymore," he said while mumbling the last part

All thought processes came to a grinding halt as they all gave Bench the look of asking for elaboration, "I'm not the one who should tell you that, let Louise do that. I'm only here because Louise decided that it was really smart to activate her overdrive and disable her limiter,"

"Now as to your question about not touching her," Bench said while turning to face Cattleya. "Louise is in a pretty critical state right now and any sort of contact with her body could only do more harm than good,"

Then as if to prove his statement Louise's broken body started to spark, seeing this Bench gave a curse and shot a beam down which turned into a cube that encased the young Valliere. Pink lightning came out of her body while she gave a blood curdling scream, the only thing that was preventing the lightning from escaping was the walls of the cube that Bench had assembled just in time.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Louise shrieked.

Cattleya backed away from the cube, just like how the pink lightning appeared, it stopped instantly.

"Louise!" shouted Cattleya in worry.

"W-what was that?!" Eleonore asked.

"That, was an ED," Bench said while disabling the cube.

"ED?" asked Old Osmund.

"Energy Discharge," Bench replied.

"Is she alright!?" Cattleya asked.

"Like I said, she's in a very critical state, Energy Discharge happens every time, its when the amount of energy that she exerts on her body is equal to the discharge is gives off later, I'm pretty sure you all saw the big hole-in-the wall as you walked here right?"

All heads nodded, "The amount of power that she used to obliterated that wall is only getting discharged now, if the discharges are in small amount then she wouldn't even be feeling it but since she activated her overdrive and removed her limiter all the discharge that comes later will be guaranteed painful, to the point that it is deadly,"

While they didn't understand the terms of 'overdrive' and 'limiter', they understood what Bench was trying to tell them; the concept was similar to when they cast magic, if their willpower is low then they become very tired and if it runs out there was a chance of them dying.

"Will she be alright?" Henrietta asked.

"For the time being? Yes, but the more we prolong her condition the lower her chances of living, if you could let me do my job that would be appreciated," Bench said while over taking Cattleya.

Bench floated towards the smoking Louise, "You can scream at me later once you wake up Louise but right now I need that arm of yours,"

A blue beam of light came from Bench's dome head and it hit the only attached limb left. Like earlier when Louise had an energy discharge the area where Bench shot the beam a rectangular prism encased the entire limb. With one quick tug the entire arm was wrenched free from its owner.

"Why did you do that?!" Eleonore asked anger welling up.

"I'll answer your question when you're calm," Bench said while floating away from the conversation.

Eleonore was about to call the bot out when a hand landed on her shoulder, looking at the owner she saw the worried face of Cattleya. She shook her head, "We just have to trust that it knows what it's doing," she said.

Eleonore clicked her tongue in annoyance. Bench called out and told them to follow him, the group followed and were eventually led to the corner of the shack, there on the corner sat the body of a golem with a massive hole in its chest area. While the others looked curiously at the golem Karin immediately recognized what the golem was.

"Is that the so called 'Ravager'?" She asked Bench.

"Yep," He said while giving an emphasis on the 'P'.

"What is it still doing here?" Asked Cattleya.

"Initially I was going to scrap it for parts,"

"Initially?" Henrietta asked.

"Follow me," Bench led the group towards a wooden table.

On the table sat a red orb that was slightly pulsating, when they asked what it was Bench replied with, "A heart of a devil,".

When they asked for elaboration all they got were terms that were completely foreign to their ears, just when they were about to get a migraine Henrietta decided to cut his entire lecture and asked for a simpler explanation. Bench grumbled and gave a comment about how flesh-skins were so weak to understand detailed lectures.

"The simplest explanation that I could give would be that I'll be putting the Ravager's core in Louise's body. If the core is the one in charge of shifting the Ravager's body to adapt to its surroundings by putting it inside Louise then she should be able to control the nanomachines of the Ravager,"

"So where does that lead us?" Eleonore asked while rubbing her temples.

"Louise would be able to self-repair and like a Ravager, she would be able to adapt to her surroundings!" Bench yelled enthusiastically.

"So, you're telling me that you're going to put a heart of a devil inside young Louise?" Karin asked

"Well, she already held that title for seven years straight, I suppose by jamming the core in her would make her something equivalent to a baron of hell," Bench mumbled. Noticing that he's going back to his rant he stopped himself and looked at Karin, "Uh… yeah I suppose, you might be against this but you need to remember that this core is the only thing that's going to save her life,"

Silence reigned over the group, they all looked at each other – especially the Vallieres as they contemplated on whether they should go through with the operation or not. "Would there be any lingering effects?" Cattleya asked.

"None that I can think of," Bench said while completely missing out the words 'this is my first time handling a Ravager core after all,'.

"Then do it," Henrietta said.

The group looked at the bot and nodded all giving their consent to proceed with the operation.

* * *

It had been a few hours since they had started the operation, Karin had decided to leave while Henrietta told them that the castle needed her leaving Cattleya and Eleonore to watch the pod-bot connect the final tube that was coming out of his back to Louise's chest.

"And that should be the last tube, alright we can start on putting the core," Bench said.

"Finally," Eleonore muttered.

Bench left the room to get the core while leaving a trail of tubes, meanwhile the sisters looked at their youngest with worry, Bench might have told them that she was alright though to be frank they find it hard to believe especially when her arms and limbs were not attached to her and were completely torn off by some golem that managed to trash the entire courtyard, Osmund did say that they should keep an open mind. With that in mind they just waited in apprehension.

"Alright here's the core and here's the leg of the Ravager," Bench said while lifting up the two items using blue beams that encased them in cubes with the leg glowing a slight orange to where it was cut courtesy to the heated blade she 'borrowed' from Louise.

Eleonore looked at the pod-bot with confusion, "That's going to be her leg?"

The eldest of the sisters had to flinch when the reply that came back were a series of beeps that sounded aggressive.

"I'm not so dumb as to give her a disproportionate leg! Once I jam the core in, it should recognize Louise's body and from there a lot of math and algorithms are used to make sure that her new leg would be fit for purpose," Bench scoffed, "flesh-skins,"

Eleonore would've taken her wand out and casted a powerful wind spell at the bot were it not for the fact that the same bot that was aggravating her is the only one who knows how to fix Louise. Bench placed the leg just in front of Louise and turned his attention at the patient, a blue beam landed on Louise's chest area. The chest bisected and opened like double doors revealing a burnt-out ball that was sitting on the centre of the chest. The smell of something burning wafted through the sister's lungs, they covered their nose while looking at the amount of smoke that was coming out of Louise's chest.

"Yep, that core is definitely burnt out," Bench mumbled. When Cattleya asked about the burnt ball he explained. "What you're looking at right now is – well more like was, Louise's core. In flesh-skin terms… it's her heart,"

The sisters now looked at each other worriedly, while they didn't know much in the medical field – just bits and pieces it was common sense that a heart, no matter how mechanical it may be, shouldn't be black in colour. Bench took the burnt core out and placed the Ravager core in. Surprisingly the core of the Ravager had fit like a glove. in the compartment small appendages from the side automatically attached to the core and began the long process of recognizing the new core. To further secure that nothing was to happen Bench monitored the entire procedure checking the numbers that the new core is giving, making sure that it doesn't grow out of the general chart. Meanwhile the sisters waited with bated breath.

"You know… she talked a lot about all of you… in her logs that is," Bench said out of nowhere. The sisters gave an incredulous look at the robot.

"What does a tree have to do with us?" Eleonore asked.

Bench gave a groan of annoyance, "Not that kind of logs! You know, kind of like a diary,"

"So, what did she say?" Cattleya asked.

"She complained about all of you faults of course but for every log she made the words missed and love was always there," he said, the atmosphere suddenly got sombre, "I'm a bot, I was built artificially, love is a foreign concept to me so I don't know how to deal with that part of her problem, I don't know what's happening within your family – and I'm not going to pry but from old medical records I had taken from my memory, emotions like that are usually because she's being ignored,"

They were quiet, contemplating on the words of the bot. Out of nowhere the Bench made a surprised beep sound catching their attention, the once red orb slowly changed its glow to a light pink, once the glow finally reached its peak it died down. A few more seconds, Bench turned around and addressed the sisters.

"I can safely say that she will be alright,"

The girls gave a huge sigh of relief. The sound of something rattling reached their ears, they traced the sound eventually they looked down to see the torn leg rattling, then it slowly broke down into tiny particles that may as well have been sand. To their astonishment the black sand moved towards the hanging patient – slowly making a thin tower of sand towards the stub that was her leg. Cattleya gave a soft surprised sound when, Bench looked at her to see that there were more sand particles that were approaching Louise but it wasn't from the leg, following the trail of sand he discovered that the fallen Ravager had started to break down rapidly. Floating back to Louise he was shocked at the rate of how the nanomachines work.

The left that was completely blown off is now replaced by a leg that was not only smooth but it was also polished. The nanomachines of the Ravager was like a grape vineyard the black sand that was coming from the Ravager was coiling itself upwards the stand that Louise hanged on eventually making it to her face, the trail of sand dismissed her face and made a line towards the arms and started to rebuild it similarly to the legs. Upon closer inspection Bench could also spot some of the sand entering the gaps of her old body. The plates that made up her old body fell off, similar to how a snake would shed its skin and what replaced them were chrome black plates that looked more like it was a skin rather than an armour plate that was placed there.

A minute had passed and Bench, Eleonore and Cattleya were shocked at the new body of Louise. Gone were the metal plates that made up her chest instead it was a chrome black that seemed to shimmer despite the moon being up and at the centre of it and between moderately developed breasts, courtesy of the nanomachines, was her core proudly glowing pink, the legs and arms were no longer 'mechanical' instead they looked as if Louise had worn a skin tight suit, there were no small gaps where the lights would usually glow, instead it glowed _inside _of the suit. Bench observed the composition of her new body, to say the least he was shocked.

The nanomachines compressed themselves on Louise with great pressure – creating this sort of extremely thick armour that not even the infamous rail gun could _scratch_. A twitch made Bench look at the hand of Louise. Another twitch, looking up he saw Louise's eyes slowly open.

"How do you feel Louise?" he asked.

A moment of silence before she locked eyes with Bench, "Like I've been thrown in a grinder, regurgitated and thrown again,"

"In other words?" Bench asked in mock obliviousness.

Louise rolled her eyes, "I feel like shit – can you get me down this thing already?"

* * *

**A/N: There you have it folk I have rewritten this chapter, why you may ask? It's simple really, the previous version just sounded forced and if not for a my first reviewer: Robo Reader 21 I would never have changed this chapter into something better (At least I think it's better than the first one) so kudos to him! **

**Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this rewritten chapter and with that I bid you all adieu**

**Peace~**


	4. Recalibrating

**Recalibrating**

* * *

_Louise gave a yelp as she fell yet again on the cold ground surface. It had been a week since she had the revelation that her arms and legs were no longer human. While she retained her human torso all of her limbs were replaced with metal counterparts for them. Since her arms and legs were new she's been told by the one named Alban to help her recalibrate her body to get used to the new weight that was her metallic limbs._

_Initially she asked – when she had come to terms with it – Alban why they would take her limbs away, she answered with an explanation that she understood little, "While, flesh-skins have the ability to become resistant to nuclear fever there is a low chance of it happening – with the constant bombardment air particles that have bits and tiny pieces of nuclear wastes produced by the bombs that were dropped in the old world five or so hundred years ago, the chances of you getting resistant is at an all time low. So, the best next solution we did would be filtering out that nuclear energy that's mixed in your blood by installing some purifiers in your body and those purifiers just so happen to be your arms and legs,"_

_Louise was yet again carried by Alban this time using the spider like arms that were sprouting behind her back, while the arms carried her back to the observation bed Alban was typing away at a holographic keyboard, recording Louise's time standing up._

"_impressive, thirty minutes before you body gave in," Alban complimented._

"_Why is… this task… so tiring?" Louise complained._

"_Well, it's to be expected, since you are so used to lifting up you flesh arms the brain knows how much energy it needs to put in to be able to lift your arm in various direction. Now that you have different arm, with different weight and composition. The brain will try to register it at you arm but at the same time the amount of energy required to lift your new arm up is a far cry to when you would lift your flesh arm up, same goes for your legs, if you became a cyborg when you were still an infant – which most mothers would do – then you wouldn't even be experiencing any sort of fatigue since you brain is already used to the weight,"_

_Louise gave tired 'oh' before going back to breathing heavily. Eventually the breathing subsided and Louise chose this moment to sit up from the bed, at the same time the doors to the workshop opened allowing a visitor in._

"_Bench! Where are you?!" the voice of a female called out._

"_Who's that?" Louise asked while tilting her body, trying to peek at the new individual._

_When there was no answer given to her Louise asked again only to be cut off when she saw Alban's back arms freeze up, looking at her she noticed that it wasn't just the arms that froze up but her too. The entire workshop was quiet the only sound was the impatient tapping of a metallic foot on the floor. _

"_He must be outside," the visitor said to herself._

_The footsteps slowly lowered in volume, the door to the workshop opened and closed. Alban gave a sigh of relief. Louise tilted her head in confusion, "Why are you so tense?"_

"_Let's just say for now that the person looking for Bench is the last person you would want to meet in this lovely group of misfits,"_

_Louise gave long 'okay'. She asked for elaboration but her request was ignored when Alban turned around and gave her a smile, "Lets proceed with the test, with you picking up some items that I have here,"_

_The entire day was spent with Louise lifting up objects that she didn't recognize with Alban recording all of it._

* * *

After a night's rest the sisters went back to the workshop to see Louise standing next to the stand while Bench circled her – shooting blue beams of light in specific places. Hearing the doors to the workshop open Louise looked up and locked eyes with her sisters.

"Cattleya! Eleonore!" Louise said with surprise in her voice.

The two big sisters tried to approach her but were suddenly blocked by none other then Bench, "while this whole reunion is nice and all I'd like some evaluations before you do what you want to do alright?"

Eleonore frowned but receded and backed off meanwhile Cattleya smiled and followed suit. Bench told Louise to do some stretches and tell him if there were some discomforts on her body. Louise complied and started with a simple split.

"Are there any discomforts?" he asked.

"There aren't any at the legs I think,"

"Alright, raise your entire left leg to the point where your foot is within eye level," Bench said.

She went back to standing up then she followed his instruction, again he asked the same question and her response was still the same similarly with the right leg. Louise then fell backward with her back arcing upward while her feet and hands were on the ground.

"Back discomforts?" He asked.

Louise closed her eyes and tried to focus in on any discomfort but nothing came to mind, telling the same answer to Bench. Louise moved on to the next position while she was doing this Cattleya spoke.

"What are you doing Louise?"

"I'm doing some exercises and trying to find if there is something uncomfortable to that Bench could fix it immediately," she said while spreading her body and making her right arm touch her left foot.

This entire series of questions continued meanwhile the sisters looked with slight confusion and interest, "Why do you have to do these tests?" Eleonore asked. "Shouldn't you know if there are any discomforts immediately?"

"While she may have full control of her body you need to remind yourself that since Louise isn't a flesh-skin anymore she wouldn't have some of the receptors that a flesh-skin like you would have. For instance, you would know if there is some discomfort immediately when you sit in an irregular way, for Louise or for any cyborgs' cases these discomforts wouldn't matter to them since the discomfort isn't really that prominent. The only time they would feel uncomfortable is when they put their bodies under a lot of stress and they have this feeling that's preventing them from reaching the required stress," Bench explained.

"I'm sorry for asking but what are 'cyborgs'?" Cattleya asked.

"You're looking at one right now," Louise said garnering their gaze. When they gave her looks of elaboration Louise explained, "Cyborgs are people who have physical abilities that are superior to normal humans like super strength, speed, reflexes and many more with the use of special devices planted inside the body,"

"You mean to tell us that there is something in your body that makes you stronger, faster and wittier than the knights of Tristain?" Eleonore asked with scepticism.

"To put it bluntly then yeah… pretty much,"

"Somehow I doubt that," Eleonore said while crossing her arms.

"Um… hello, didn't you see the result of Louise and the Ravager duking it out?" Bench said with mild irritation.

"Oh please, it's a golem, a simple dumb magical construct that only follows what its master tells it to do, anyone with combat experience can easily dispose of a golem," She said while waving her hand in the air uncaringly.

"Don't say that," Louise suddenly said her voice dropping several degrees cold.

"What did you say?" Eleonore said with a raise eyebrow.

"Eleonore while I respect you as a sister I have to say that the comparison you said between a golem and a Ravager is the stupidest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth!" she declared.

Eleonore flinched at the sudden hostility, Cattleya showed her surprise by placing a hand on her mouth. Finally recovering after Louise's sudden outburst Eleonore glowered at her, "don't take that tone with me Louise. I am still your big sister!"

"And I acknowledge that but please refrain yourself from saying such words," Louise said still frowning.

"It's just a measly golem that can destroy things, any golem can do that given enough willpower,"

"Did you also forget that Louise lost both of her arms and legs after the fight?" Bench said while giving some low beeps that sounded aggressive.

"Didn't Osmund also said that she also singlehandedly defeated it? If someone like her, who's aptitude in magic is next to zero then it should be without a doubt that someone like me can defeat it easily," Eleonore countered.

"I don't have time for this, Louise still has some more tests before I can officially call that she can safely move around," Bench said while floating away, Louise followed suit.

"Louise, you come here this instant. We're going to talk about that tone you have with me,"

"I'm sorry Eleonore but the Louise you knew years ago is no longer here, you can shove that ego of yours down your throat for I have lost some respect for you," Louise said while turning around and followed Bench.

To say the least, Eleonore was shocked whatever happened to Louise changed her, she shook in anger while Cattleya – who was sitting on one of the chairs in the workshop watched the entire argument with concern filled eyes, while she agreed with Eleonore that golems can be quite destructive if given the right amount of willpower she had to take account that Louise had lost a limb and two legs in the fight between her and the Ravager if she chose to believe Osmund's story. Being the middle sister, she decided to play her role of being the mediator. Standing up from her seat she approached her elder sister and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Eleonore snapped her head to her but she didn't flinch, "I think you should go outside for now, I'll take care of things with Louise,"

Eleonore stared at her for a moment before closing her eyes and tried to calm down while repeating the mantra 'Rule of Steel'. She gave a curt nod to her sister and went outside of the workshop looking for some ways to cool herself down. Cattleya took a deep breath before covering her mouth with a white cloth while coughing quietly. Following the direction where Louise and Bench went she saw Louise standing in front of Bench with one of her arms raised up, she watched with interest when her arm suddenly shifted to a blade that glowed hot, Louise looked at the blade with rapt attention similar to that of a child when inside a candy shop. Cattleya gave a light cough that caught the attention of both Louise and Bench, she gave a small smile to which Louise responded in kind.

"I hope you can understand you sister," Cattleya said.

"I do understand what she's trying to say but she has to understand that a Ravager isn't some golem that you can dismiss. A single Ravager unleashed in this world could already be considered the end of the world," Louise said while her facial expression darkened.

"But from what Osmund said you have defeated it – singlehandedly,"

"At the cost of an arm and two legs, normally taking on a Ravager is considered suicidal. Their ability to adapt is terrifying, one moment the attacks that your using would damage it but then later on you find out that the same attacks you used earlier is no longer effective and that's not even the limits of their abilities, they're cannibals; they tear off the body parts of their latest prey and assimilate them into their core – this would repair all of the damage it took after the fight rendering the efforts of the defeated useless. The reason I had managed to defeat that Ravager is because it was still newly built from the remains of the Savages. If that Ravager was older then without a doubt I would have died," she said gravely.

Cattleya was about to give her opinion when Louise had cut her, "and just because I can't use magic doesn't mean I'm useless, I defeated that Ravager through experience and skill alone, magic had nothing to do about it,"

After her long rant she looked at her sister with slight embarrassment, "sorry you had to see me like this,"

Cattleya smiled, "it's alright, after all no matter what you are, cyborg or human you still have feelings and some of them still need some venting out,"

"Alright, all observational tests are done!" Bench said while backing up "Any comments?"

Louise rolled her shoulders then proceeded to punch and kick the air with various fighting styles in rapid succession leaving Cattleya slightly surprised. "Nothing to complain about, in fact I feel lighter!"

"That's what the nanomachines are making you think, in truth you're actually three time heavier than before, coming in at a weight of 3.43 tonnes," Bench said.

Louise and Cattleya's eyes widened, "T-t-three tonnes!?"

Bench gave a few beeps before shooting a blue beam to which Louise and Cattleya's eyes followed. The trail of beam ended at the floor and Louise could only blush in embarrassment for on the cobblestone that made up the floor of the workshop were embedded footprints that traced all the way to where Louise was standing with her feet currently embedded on the floor. "Those nanomachines that make up your body compressed themselves in such high pressure that your weight increased by a great margin," Bench explained.

"Anyways, lets get one the part that you like," Bench said.

Her face immediately changed from embarrassed to excited, "I can't wait!"

When Cattleya asked why she's excited Louise simply responded with, "I'm going to prove Eleonore wrong!"

The group walked outside and then made their way towards the courtyard where the fight between Louise and the Ravager began. Bench went on ahead and stopped just in front of the sisters, "Ms. Cattleya, I'd advise you to back off for this,"

Not questioning the pod-bot Cattleya stepped back a few meters before Bench told her to back up more, after a hundred meters of backing off Bench finally considered the distance to be safe. Bench beeped then deployed three metal sticks that embedded itself on the ground, after that a small drill replaced the propulsor that was making him float. The drill spun and started to dig a hole, once Bench was settled to the point that the only thing poking out of the ground was his dome he gave off a prolonged beep, a blue beam of light was launched upward and spread downwards forming a dome with the radius of a hundred meters, of course seeing a blue dome out of nowhere was a definite oddity so it was to be expected that some students and teachers gathered around and observed it with rapt attention, Louise looked around the gathered crowd and grinned in her mind as she could see Eleonore just beside Cattleya.

"Louise, focus," Bench called out.

Louise walked closer to Bench and only stopping once she was twenty meters away from him. Bench asked her if she was ready to which she scoffed and gave the answer. "Is that even a question?"

"Very well, hopefully Savages would suffice for this test," Bench said.

Suddenly holographic images of Savages appeared out of nowhere, once there were about a dozen Bench finally stopped spawning the Savages. Louise lowered her body and brought her arms up in a particular angles.

Bench scoffed, "You're still using that fighting style?"

"Hey, you don't see me in the workshop asking for repairs too often, right? That means that this fighting style works,"

"I still stand to my point, Panzer Kunst is nothing but a fictional fighting style, that came from a fictional world,"

"Whatever you say,"

Changing her expression from joking around to serious Louise waited for the Savages to attack. The first one who moved went for a punch that was easily dodged by the pink haired girl, she was about to counter when another Savage had interrupted her forcing to block the punch with her right arm, just past her peripheral vision she could already see another Savage charging at her with a blade at the ready, she twisted her right arm and used it to grab the Savage, she backed up avoiding another attack from the first Savage, she brought up her left arm and performed a lariat to the Savage that she was grabbing, once the it was down she leaned sideways to avoid the upward slash of the Savage that was on her peripheral vision earlier. Now that the bladed Savage had overextended itself Louise moved in for the first kill, she unleashed her blades and used it to completely remove the Savage's upper body from its torso.

One down, eleven to go

The Savage that Louise had performed a lariat on was standing up only to reel backwards as Louise used the elbow propulsions to perform a bone crunching uppercut, the force of the attack was too much that the head of the Savage detached itself from its body. Two down. Louise jumped and angled herself horizontally to avoid two bladed attacks that were aimed at her legs and her head courtesy of two new Savages, while in mid-air Louise unleashed her right arm blade and a new blade that came out of the sole of her left feet, at the same time she planted her left hand on the ground. The left arm spun clockwise while Louise was still in her horizontal position, the left feet blade decapitated the Savage that was aiming for her head while the right arm blade sliced the other Savage in half. Four down.

Controlling the A.I. of the simulation Bench ordered all of the Savages to attack Louise. Louise for her part took the attack in stride, dodging beautifully while countering whenever the opportunity presented itself. Another few seconds of dodging another Savage overextended itself, Louise was quick on the take, she grabbed the leg and spun around hitting all of the Savages, once she had more breathing room she threw the makeshift weapon making it collide with another Savage that had just finished standing up. While the others stood up Louise unleashed both of her blades and activated her overdrive. Pink lines started to appear all over Louise – for every breath she took steam would come out.

She moved

'_Too fast!' _Bench thought.

True to his word after Louise activated her overdrive Louise became nothing more than a blur that was too fast for even Bench to track down and he was a machine! Before she donned the Ravager nanomachines Bench could track her down with ease and _still_ have some space to give some witty comment but this time it was different. One after another Louise fell another Savage and the only resistance she had encountered was the air. Her overdrive finally stopped and what remained were the bodies of the Savages already turning back into data, looking around her she noticed that there was a train of singed grass courtesy of her rampage after she activated her overdrive.

"How did I do Bench?" she asked.

The dome disappeared and Bench was back to floating again, "Do you really want me to answer that?" he asked sarcastically.

Louise gave a nod to which Bench responded with a slight chuckle, "Alright, you passed the test, you can go and move around again,"

Louise gave a loud 'yes!' while doing a fist pump she stood up only to see the gathered crowd had increased, students were looking at her with various expression but the most obvious expression was of shock. Who wouldn't? After all Louise was just a young girl who can't even cast a levitation spell even if her life depended on it, after seeing her performance they knew it then and there that they would have to find another person to pick on lest they want to end up as the Savages. Louise looked around and locked eyes with Eleonore who was so shell shocked. She approached her while the crowd that was blocking her way parted. Eleonore backed up a little when Louise was toe to toe with her.

"What you saw there was nothing compared to a Ravager," she said while giving her a very serious look before walking back towards the workshop with Bench in tow.

Eleonore stood still on her spot, still trying to comprehend what had happened right in front of her eyes. Cattleya for her part had already recovered from her shock and looked at her elder sister's shocked face.

Cattleya gave a quiet chuckle.

Things are about to get really interesting real soon.

* * *

**A/N: How's that! I just had to make Louise flex on her big sister right now its 1:07 AM here and I'm still not tired! Just kidding I'm fucking exhausted. I surely hope that the flow of this chapter didn't looked too forced. Give me your opinions and even some constructive criticism as I always want to improve. And with that I bid you all adieu.**

**Peace~**


	5. Tension (REWRITTEN)

**Tension**

* * *

"_We're going outside?" Louise asked._

"_Yep, besides Bench told me to take you out. You've been cooped up in here for too long and that's not healthy," Alban said while shaking her head side to side._

_Louise gave a surprised yelp when her hand was suddenly grabbed and she was tugged out of her room. A month had passed ever since she performed Alban's tests, how did she know that a month had passed? Just below her vision was a date written in Banscroft – 05/26/3542. While she admits that she had gotten used to her room the back of her brain told her that she was curious as to where she was. Of course, she knew that she was transported to another world, the singular moon that hung above her every night can attest to that. What she was really curious about is the outside, how does it look like and how does it compare to Tristain?_

_With no other choice Louise agreed to Alban's request to which she replied with a smile. "Good thing that you agreed because I would've dragged you outside either way if you said no,"_

"_Um…right," Louise said uncomfortably._

_The pair walked towards the door and stopped just in front of it. Alban looked to Louise and said, "Prepared to be shocked,"_

_The doors open and Louise had to squint as sunlight assaulted her vision. The feeling of cool air touched her skin telling her that she was somewhere that was quite high up. Once her eyes adjusted she took in a large amount of air at the sight that beholds her; towering spikes dotted the landscape, she could see light from below that glowed brighter than an army that held torches. The sounds of a busy street entered her ears and of course, the most breath-taking view is the horizon – layers of clouds could be seen below them and the ones floating above the clouds were other cyborgs flying with their mechanical wings carrying items of various paraphernalia but the most surprising sight was the fact that there is no floor only clouds. Stepping outside Alban turned to her and declared._

"_Welcome to Bans, the floating city," Alban said while standing in between the sun that was just rising up from the horizon._

_For Louise's part she was still too shocked to say anything, Alban gave a small giggle before snapping her fingers in front of her eyes snapping her out of her shock. Shaking her head Louise could only say one thing._

"_Wow,"_

"_Come on, go get your pack we're going to Evergarden," _

"_My pack?" Louise asked._

_With one of her arms, Alban pointed in one direction, following her arm she spotted what she was pointing at, a sort of sack pack similar to the ones back in Tristain the only difference is the fact that this pack was made of metal and its shape is smooth and angular with a large hole in the bottom. Taking the pack and strapping it on her back. Alban went behind her and pulled out a cord from the pack and attached it to her right arm. Louise felt a tingling sensation enter her head._

"_What's that feeling?" she asked Alban._

"_That's just the pack's driver being installed in your head," she answered._

_When the tingling sensation died out she suddenly have this feeling that the pack had been a part of her ever since she became a cyborg, her thoughts were suddenly brought to a halt when Alban came up to her vision, "Alright, I know you haven't had any training with flight but I believe you can handle this quite easily, just think of floating,"_

"_Um… alright," Louise did as she was told. She took a sharp intake of breath when she suddenly felt her feet leave the ground. Looking down, her eyes widened at the sight of her feet not touching the ground._

"_See, that's how you do it, now think of going forward and you'll be able to do it,"_

_Louise thought of going forward. She screamed as she zoomed out of the shop and to the outside world in great speeds. The sound of Alban's voice slowly decreased in volume._

* * *

In the skies of Tristain it is said that dragons were the ones that dominated the skies, it was common sense after all – with their superior speed and ability to breath elemental attacks it was obvious that any encounter with a dragon is considered suicide. Unless you're someone like Louise.

Louise banked to the left just in time to avoid becoming dinner for the group of wild dragons that she encountered while she left the school to do some sightseeing. She gave a loud laughter as another dragon failed to eat the pink haired girl. This entire dance of the dragons trying to eat Louise and Louise always dodging it had been going on for a few minutes already and judging by the looks of it, the dragons are already tired but at the same time they looked out right pissed – pissed due to the fact that some flying pink haired girl is mocking their flying abilities. Finally accepting the fact that whatever they do won't work they backed off and glared at her.

"You're done?" Louise asked while pouting seeing that her fun had ended.

Of course, the only response she got were the death stares. The sounds of wing beats that were heavier entered her ears and from the looks of it, its not only her that's hearing this. The younger dragons parted to show a new dragon who's bigger in size, join the fray. The bigger dragon glowered at Louise with its one scarred eye. Louise gave an 'oh' in amazement upon seeing the dragon. Suddenly her vision gave her multiple warnings, telling her that something hot is about to come to her. Not one to deny its request she banked to the right just narrowly avoiding the stream of fire that came out of the bigger dragon's mouth.

Louise gave grin, "Well, this just got interesting!" she deployed her heated blades and with a burst of speed she charged at the elder dragon.

* * *

"Golem!" Eleonore called out.

Said 'golem' was floating around nearby the workshop shooting blue beams every now and then, as he does wherever the beam lands all data and information about it is stored in his database of countless of data. He still had around three hundred terabytes to spare so it was fine if he shot the blue beams willy-nilly – after all finding anything that was green is practically non-existent back on Earth as everything you see is just sand, sand and more sand with some decrepit old-world buildings here and there.

"Golem!" the elder sister called out again.

Eventually Bench had managed to find a very interesting plant, one that didn't match with any of the old-world data, it had a three petals sprouting outside at the tip with the stigma protruding out which was useful for coaxing any bees that were in the area, while these were the descriptions of a normal flower what separated it from a flower on Earth was the fact that there were also petals underneath the first three and this time it had four petals. Bench examined the flower with rapt attention while feeding it with a continuous beam of light gathering all of the possible data around it.

"Um… Mr. Bench?" A voice called out that was not of Eleonore's.

"Yeah? How may I be of service Cattleya?" he asked.

"Wha- "was all Eleonore said before getting cut off by the middle sister.

"By any chance do you know where Louise is?" she asked politely.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked.

"We're her sisters, isn't that obvious," Eleonore butted in.

"I wasn't talking to you, flesh-skin," Bench said with a deadpan tone.

Eleonore grinded her teeth while giving a muffled screech that may as well have sounded as nails on chalkboard, she was also using every fiber in her being just to keep her hand away from the wand that rested on her right hip. Meanwhile a sweat dropped off of Cattleya's head as she saw the exchange between the pod-bot and her elder sister. Going back to the question she responded to Bench.

"Today is the Day of the Void and we would like to spend it with her," she said.

"What's 'Day of the Void'?" Bench asked while giving beeping noises.

"Do you live under a rock?" Eleonore asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry for not knowing a festival because I was too busy fixing cyborgs that were just a step away from holding hands with Death after fighting a Ravager, it must be _so _important that I have to leave my responsibilities just for a stupid day that talks about 'nothing'," Bench said – sarcasm practically evaporating out of him.

Eleonore had enough, she pulled out her wand and aimed it at Bench. Just as she was about to fire off a spell something whizzed past her narrowly missing her left cheek but her hair could say otherwise. Looking at where that something landed she found the figure of a black sword. Backing off she looked around – finding the thrower. She didn't have to search any further as she found the culprit in the form of a petite, nanomachine plated, pink haired girl.

"L-Louise?" Eleonore asked.

"I would like to know, _dear_ sister; why were you pointing your wand at Bench?" she asked – her features darkening.

"This golem of yours has disrespected me, a Noble, for the last time. I believe that its due for some punishment!" Eleonore said this time standing her ground.

"U-um…" Cattleya said trying to defuse the lit fuse that was Louise and the bomb that was Eleonore.

"Bench, is this true?" she asked.

"Not at all, I have never disrespected her in the slightest, I just chose to ignore her," Bench said his voice never wavering.

"Liar! I have heard those witty remarks, calling us these 'flesh-skins' you sound as if your high and mighty. Let us see how high and mighty you are when I cast a simple earth spell on you," Eleonore threatened.

"Sister Eleonore!" Cattleya said with surprise in her eyes.

"You stay out of this, Cattleya. And what about you Louise, what do you have to say for yourself? Siding with this useless golem instead of me, your big sister. Would you dare so much to throw away your nobility just for that useless hunk of metal?"

Silence

"If this is what nobility offers, then I would gladly throw it away," Louise said – teeming with resolve. Eleonore gave a surprised expression, just when she was about to respond to her Louise cut her off, "If nobility makes me look down on commoners then I would rather be those commoners than be one with the nobles, for they have seen it all while nobles just sit on their chair complaining about the slightest problems like a crooked dress or the food being too salty. I have seen both sides and to be honest there is nothing more admirable than a father who works day in and out just to get money to feed his family – meanwhile nobles just sit on their expensive chairs in front of their expensive table waiting for the food to come out,"

Eleonore grinded her teeth, _"the nerve of this girl!"_

Yet despite her sister's anger overflowing she continued, "People say that nobles are matured, calm and collected but all I see is arrogance, greed and an insatiable lust for control. In fact, I can boldly declare that commoners are much more mature than nobles! When Bench called you a flesh-skin, it's not because he's insulting you, it's a term that's used to describe people who haven't been converted into cyborgs yet, after all flesh-skins and cyborgs are both under the classification of 'human' it was only used to create a race that separates us from flesh-skins. Bench only sound arrogant because his maker had made him so, just like how you can give a golem instruction – Bench's instructions are to sound witty and arrogant and there is nothing you can do about it! SO, STOP ACTING IMMATURE AND ACCEPT THE FACTS THAT ARE LAID IN FRONT OF YOU!"

Louise's head snapped to the left but her heavy body kept her in place, if it had been her flesh body she would have fell on the ground while nursing the stinging pain. The cause for this was the hand that connected to none other than Eleonore. Too blinded by her feelings she had never noticed her elder sister approach her and slap her across the face. Her elder sister glowered at her while she lowered her head – not in anger but in shock. Shock that her sister would have to resort to physical violence even if it was a just a measly slap, the physical pain was lost to her but what really shone was the psycological pain.

She lifted her head and glared back at her with a burning anger – this was also shown when pink lines dimly lit up all around her body. When the sisters locked eyes the elder one's anger immediately disappeared as realization dawned on her. She tried to explain herself yet the words were stuck in her throat. Too shocked to say anything Louise decided to start it.

"So, that's how it's going to be," Louise whispered though it might as well have been a shout given to how quiet the courtyard was.

"L-Louise, I-I…"

Louise broke her gaze with her and walked forward while shoving Eleonore aside, meanwhile for the elder sister's part she just allowed herself to be shoved away from the youngest Valliere, it was quite a sight really; the eldest backing off from the youngest while she tried to find the words that would never come out of her throat. Louise walked towards the black sword and with a touch of her finger the black sword was absorbed back in her body. Louise stopped just a few meters away from her attacker – she didn't even bother looking back when she spoke.

"It was nice talking to you… _Eleonore Valliere_," Louise said.

All of a sudden, a freezing chill crawled up to her spine, it was coldness unlike nothing before and if she were to admit it – it was colder than her mother's glares. The tone that Louise had used upon addressing her name… it was the tone of unfamiliarity – a tone that told her that to Louise's eyes, she no longer acknowledges her as her sister. Louise called out to Bench and he followed. Bench paused for a moment and turned to look at Eleonore, giving a few beeps that sounded too robotic even for him. Turning back, he followed Louise back to the workshop leaving the two other Vallieres to their own devices.

"W-what have I done?" Eleonore asked herself.

She fell down to her knees and started to sob. Cattleya went down on her knees as well and hugged her elder sister - trying her best to comfort her.

Above them the clouds grew a dark shade of grey.

* * *

**A/N: Here we go again another rewrite of the latest chapter. I have recently found out from a reliable source (Robo Reader 21) that Eleonore is an Earth Mage and not a Wind Mage! And with that new information I have altered the ending to a more suitable one. Robo Reader 21 also mentioned to me that striking your little sister with lightning because you're having a heated argument with her is not realistic so I went with a slap – I still hope that the effect is just as strong as getting struck by a lightning spell. **

**Kudos to you again Robo Reader 21 for making me realize my mistake! Now let's move to the comments!**

**mega1987****: Thanks for noticing, just a heads up the world that I have created – the world where Louise got reversed summoned has some inspiration to Alita: Battle Angel. Along with it are some inspirations from Shadow of the Colossus, Fallout and Last of Us.**

**And with that I bid you all adieu.**

**Peace~ **


	6. Reconnection

**Reconnection**

* * *

_Above the skies of the old world, three figures zoomed across – leaving white streaks. They were in a triangular formation with the one leading them having long crimson hair. Her cyborg eyes scanned the ground beneath them while making sure to zoom in on some spots that were particular. It was clear that she and her group were looking for someone._

_Or more specifically a 'something'._

_The radio that was built in her blared to life as a voice made itself known, despite the noise of moving at the speed of sound the voice could still be heard loud and clear, "Zen, we've been looking for three weeks already, I'm pretty sure it's not anywhere near here,"_

"_Cairn, shut up, the ones sitting on the Chairs told us that there was an anomaly that is suspected to be Ravager Brutus. The system never makes a mistake, we've used it for a long time,"_

"_I know, I know… but don't you think that three weeks without any sightings of it straight is considered safe?"_

"_Ravager Brutus doesn't just disappear like that," Zen replied as she continued to search the ground._

"_And how would yo-, "Cairn was cut off when the third man on the team opened a private channel to him._

_The third man looked at Cairn with a face that told him to not push it. One look from the third party told Cairn that he was already stepping on thin ice, deciding to ask another time he held his tongue. They continued their search for another hour or so. With nothing but sand, sand and more sand Cairn was about to complain once more when all of a sudden, a public channel blared through everyone's head._

"_-ho can hear this, this is Cypher-01 we've caught sightings of Ravager Brutus, it has not seen us but its… SHIT!"_

_Sounds of explosion came through the radio making Zen and her group worry, "This is Red-01, Cypher-01 what's your location,"_

"_Red-01, we're in grid 65734, please come and assist us,"_

_Everyone froze and slowly repeated the number that Cypher-01 had said, Grid 65734… seven miles away from Bans. Considering Zen's past, she was confident that seven miles was already too close for Ravager Brutus. Not even giving any words of preparation, her feet merged together, transforming into a single engine which gave off another loud boom as she raced towards the grid._

_Cairn was about to give a complain but was cut when the third party zoomed past him, he gave a groan of frustration before doing the same thing that both of his squad mates did. As he slowly catches up to them, over the horizon his servos froze as he looked at the carnage that was happening over the distance._

_Smoke billowed above the clouds, sounds of weapons and war cries echoed across the barren desert. On the ground a black figure stood, twenty feet high, armour thicker than any of the old-world tanks could offer, missile pod on both shoulders smoked as it launched another volley towards the already broken squad Cypher. Steeling his nerves, he prepared for the worst._

* * *

With a war cry Louise split the tree that she had been using as a punching bag. A day had passed after her argument with her elder sister and it still lingered around her artificial brain. While she couldn't blame her for almost harming Bench, she needs to understand that things don't always come to her and that she had to work for it.

Hell, that's what Louise had done for the past eight years while living in Bans.

She had thrown away her pride as a noble during her first month the moment she realized that it weighed equally to air, nothing. So, it was quite understandable that she was pissed right now. She exhaled, releasing a generous amount of steam out of her mouth. Deciding to move away from her frustration, she chose to admire her new body. It was sleeker than her old one, considering the fact that is was made of nothing but nanomachines. To the eyes of everyone in the school they might think that what she was wearing was nothing short of scandalous.

Her curves were accentuated very well to the point that she had notice some of the boys in the academy stealing glances from her, it didn't help due to the fact that her breasts were more developed in this body while in her old one was just a flat chest which had more purpose housing her core. Pink lines glowed dully from inside of her body, she traced one of them and found herself ending up in the circular glow in her chest. She realized that they only glow bright is she's fighting or when she's accessing her overdrive. She had the mind to do just that when she had just remembered Bench's words were to not abuse her overdrive until he can guarantee it was safe to do.

After admiring her body she started to look into her weapons, she brought her arms up and with a single thought the nanites shifted under her will – producing two arm blades, the sides of said blades glowed a bright red, she could see the air bend near the blades telling her that the blades were nothing short of scorching.

Removing her blades, she was slightly surprised that there wasn't any lingering heat from the nanites that was heated. That's Ravager tech for you, always ready and ever adapting.

With a sigh she walked back towards the academy, with a now cooler head.

* * *

It was noon and the kitchen couldn't be anymore busier. Servants walked back and forth, carrying trays that had appetizers and entrees that the nobles outside had ordered. Siesta, a fellow commoner maid who was also in duty of serving the nobles stepped out of the kitchen with a plate of cake on her trey. The cake had been ordered by a student, one that she doesn't concern herself with, all she knew was that the student wanted the cake and denying that order could get her fired.

On the way to the courtyard where the nobles sat and ate their snacks, she stopped where she was heading in favour of looking at one of the academy's most peculiar students, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. The pink haired girl wandered around the courtyard with a troubled look on her face. While she didn't see the fight between her and the golem, everyone dubbed as 'Ravager', she did watch the entire fight between her and a couple of golems that were the smaller variant of the Ravager.

Suffice to say, her jaw dropped at the sight; it wasn't like those stories that her grandfather told her. It was more brutal and there were no signs of glory after each victory. It saddened her that what her grandfather told her was a lie but at the same time her performance was definitely eye opening.

"You know it's very uncomfortable for someone to be watching me," Louise called out.

Her eyes widened and started to wonder how she had noticed her presence without even looking back. Louise turned around and locked eyes with her, a smile on her face as she tapped the side of her head with one of her black fingers.

"I have a sensor that highlights heat signatures that are within a 200m radius. I knew you were looking at me because you were just standing still and pretty close to me,"

None of what Louise had said gone through her head as she gave a scripted nod to show that she was acknowledging her. Louise gave a short chuckle before walking towards her. Once she was within arms-reach she placed both her arms on her waist as she looked at her up and down.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I-I'm sorry?" she said dumbly.

"Name?"

"My name is Siesta, Miss Valliere," she said before she bowed with practiced ease.

Louise brought up a hand and dismissed what Siesta had just said, "Bah, cut the formalities, just call me Louise,"

Uncertainty flashed over the maid's face as she looked at the shorter girl. This was a first for her, a noble addressing herself as her equal? This could become a scandal and the fact that the one who is addressing themselves to her as equal is of the Valliere family! She had only heard of stories; stories that her mother, Karin the Heavy Wind, managed to stop an entire invasion from a neighbouring country with nothing but her familiar and herself.

What makes it worse is the fact that her sisters were also walking around this academy at this very moment, what if she is spotted by one of the nobles, Founder help her for she knew that the only thing faster than a well-bred horse is spreading rumours.

Seeing Siesta's worries arise, Louise decided to ease her tension, "You don't have to regard me as a noble,"

All thought of the maid suddenly came to screeching halt as she repeated the words that came out of the youngest of the Valliere family. The carriage which was housing her thoughts began to move again only to be stopped when a pitch-black hand made itself known to her vision. Tracing the arm, she found out that it connected to the Valliere, she was smiling at her while patiently waiting for her to take her hand.

"_She must want a kiss,"_ Siesta thought.

Taking the hand with her own free hand she raised it up and brought it close to her lips only for it to be taken away. She gave a surprised 'huh?' as she looked at Louise who was now raising an eyebrow at her.

"What are you doing?" Louise asked, the tone of her voice suggested that she was not offended and asked the question more out of curiosity.

Curiosity now spread across the maid's face as she answered her, "I thought you wanted a kiss?"

Louise looked at her for a few second, looking for any signs of sarcasm. When she found none, she stifled a laugh before she shook her head side to side, "I didn't ask for a kiss silly, I wanted to shake your hand,"

Siesta never got to say anything because before the words came out of her mouth Louise had already taken her hand and clasped it with hers similar to how she would help one of her siblings when they fell down or tripped, once getting a firm grasp, she moved her arm up and down. Not knowing what to do, Siesta decided to just limp her arm and let Louise do the strange gesture.

After the third shake, Louise let go of her hand, letting it rest on her sides. She looked around before regarding her with a smile. "Well, I'll leave you to your own,"

She bid her farewell by saluting before walking up, whistling an unknown tune. As she walked away, Siesta stood on the same spot without moving. She looked at her hand, the one Louise had shaken, and looked back to Louise only to find that she's gone. Finally, all alone she shook herself out of her stupor and quickly rushed towards the courtyard.

* * *

Louise walked back to the warehouse, eager to see Bench. She was thinking about running another simulation test just to see her new limitations. Her thinking came to a halt when she spotted the one person she didn't want to see yet.

Eleonore stood in front of the warehouse doors looking at her. The Eleonore from before she got slapped and the Eleonore now was a big difference. Where she once emanated arrogance and confidence, now she looked uncomfortable as she shifted in her position, her hands were clenched on her skirt as she tried to maintain eye contact with her.

Louise steeled her visage, she continued to walk towards the warehouse, her elder sister slightly perked up as she tried to say something. Louise halted and stared at her coldly. Her mouth moved up and down as she tried to say the words she wanted to say. Patience running thin, Louise's frown increased as Eleonore continued to stutter. With a sigh she decided that she was going to give her a chance.

It was one of the things she had learned during her time in Bans, holding grudges can only bring trouble. When ever adapting machines want the entire human race gone, it was better to trust each other and not hold past grudges. Unfortunately, she learned that holding grudges was bad the hard way. She never got to say goodbye to him, which was why she was going to take a shot in the dark right now.

"You want to say something?" she asked, while trying to not sound annoyed or impatient.

Her stuttering stopped as she looked at her with worried eyes. While Louise knew what message her sister was trying to sending her, she was not convinced. She needed to hear her voice. Closing her eyes, she pulled the warehouse doors open enough so that she can enter. Halfway through entering Eleonore finally spoke.

"I apologize!"

Louise paused but didn't turn to address her, from the way her breathing was ragged she knew that apologizing was very tough on her. It was to be expected anyways because she was like that before. While there was no explanation to her apology something told her that she should say something.

"I was never angry at you, Sis," She said before turning around and giving her a smile. "I just wanted to show you that you should open your eyes a little wider,"

"W-what?" she asked as she tried to connect what she was trying to say.

"C'mon, let's face it, you were acting immature. If you were a big sister, you should've taken Bench's insult lightly. He never came here in Halkeginia, his customs are more… mechanical shall we say,"

Louise's words somehow cut through the blonde like a how knife through butter. Their mother would be angry at her if she saw this happening right in front of them. It should be the other way around with Louise the one being lectured. Still now that she thought about it thoroughly, she _probably_ acted immature when the pod bot insulted her… in fact now that she thought about it Bench never did insult her. All he said was a snarky remark about the Day of the Void.

Her thoughts were put to stop when Louise spoke up again, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to though," she said before gesturing her head in the door.

Knowing what she's trying to imply, Eleonore was about to rebel at the idea of apologizing to a golem only to shut up when Louise glowered at her, "Do you want to make up it to me or not?"

Her resistance lasted for a few seconds before she gave up and gave a tired sigh. Louise smiled and moved away from the door to let her big sister in. She reluctantly walked towards the slightly opened door; it was as if she was a little girl who was too scared to look in the closet. Louise rolled her eyes before pushing her inside and closing the door behind her sister. She yelped before a loud thud echoed inside the warehouse.

Turning around Eleonore began banging on the wood, "Louise Valliere, you let me out this instant!"

A muffled reply came back, "Not until you make up with, Bench,"

Eleonore tried to push the door open only to find it not budging, courtesy of Louise leaning on said door, exerting all of her weight on it. She heard a muffled sigh from the door before her sister's footsteps slowly became softer and softer. Once she heard her voice addressing Bench she stood up and walked away from the warehouse only to stop when she noticed a blip on her radar.

"You can come out now, sister Cattleya,"

True to her words, the middle sister of the family came out with an intrigued look on her face, "How did you know I was there?"

Louise smiled at her, "Your body emits heat and I can see that heat,"

"That's it?" Cattleya asked as she raised an eyebrow.

The younger pink haired girl gave shrug, "It's the simplest way I can tell you,"

"Are you telling me that I'm dumb?" Cattleya said with a face of mocked offense.

"Yes, yes you are,"

The two sisters stared at each other for a while before bursting out in giggling fits. Once they had their tickle bone in control, Cattleya spoke up, "thank you for giving big sister Eleonore a chance,"

Louise shrugged, "I learned not to take grudges," she said.

Cattleya nodded in appreciation, happy the Louise had matured. Her thoughts about a mature Louise were suddenly put on hold when she noticed a certain glint in her younger sister's eyes. Already knowing her question Louise spoke up, a smirk coming to her face.

"Besides, I got this,"

Louise's eyes glowed pink before a ray of light shot down the grass, a figure slowly formed from the ground up. To Cattleya's surprise the figure was none other than Eleonore. She walked around her elder's doppelganger, observing her nervous form. She didn't get what Louise was trying to imply so she looked at her for further elaboration. Seeing her confusion Louise gave a low chuckle before answering her sister.

"When was the last time you saw sister Eleonore like this?"

Her eyes closed as she scoured her memories for a time when Eleonore looked shy or meek. Her eyes widened when she finally realized that she does not remember once she looked embarrassed to do something. She was always confident and arrogant even before Louise came to the world! If word came out that Eleonore looked like this…

The glint on Louise's eyes spread to Cattleya as she too now sported a mischievous grin.

* * *

**A/N: I'm back boys! Sorry for the long absence I was writing other stories like:**

'**I'm Just a Narrator!'**

'**Remnant's Mightiest Heroes'**

'**A Viral Huntsman'**

**Blah blah blah, basically I was writing other fanfictions that I recommend that you all should check! I was doing this because frankly speaking I got bored of this fanfiction for a moment, I wanted a new stimulus so I started writing other fanfictions. Now I'm back with renewed interests!**

**With all that said I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I hope I didn't make Eleonore's apology scene too forced. In fact, I hope I didn't do anything in this chapter that might feel or even look forced. If you, fellow readers, do find something do tell me. I aim for improvement!**

**With that said let's get right into the reviews!**

**wolves567:**** True I kind of portrayed Louise to be more cynical in this story and of course there is a reason why, you have guessed it correctly, Louise did come out from a war. A war that will be shown is the backstories that you read at every start of the chapter. Louise's flash back deserves to be a story on its own thus why I'm only giving my fellow readers only snippets of the world where the floating city, Bans resides.**

**science over magic:**** First things first I agree with your username. To address your question because I like it blunt. For a more reasonable argument I shall give out the main definitions of what you suggest I should call the cyborgs and flesh-skins.**

**To me the word 'Hybrid' means a mixture of two species like a hybrid of a lion, and eagle gives me a griffin. Basically, what hybrid means to me is two **_**living**_** species that are combined. Louise is nothing like that, she'sa combination of a living thing (her) and a non-living thing (cyborg parts/Ravager nanites).**

**'Organic' is more general, 'organic' plant life, 'organic' lifeform, etc. even the word 'organic' lifeform is too general. Organic lifeform could be many things that are breathing both aerobically and anaerobically. Animals, insects, germs, etc.**

**Another point would be the fact that the two words you suggested make it sound off, you know? 'Organic' kind of sounds like it belongs to science. On the other hand, 'Hybrid' leans more on mythology. Yes, I know that Halkeginia is a place full of mythological creatures but look at it this way.**

**In Bans, technology triumphed while magic never advanced. Aside from that it's already a custom! Louise even said it, and I quote:**

"after all flesh-skins and cyborgs are both under the classification of 'human' it was only used to create a race that separates us from flesh-skins."

**So yeah, that's why it's better to stick with 'flesh-skins' and 'cyborg' as they are easier to understand. **

**GemWarrior:**** Thanks for your opinion! Now, let me go get a taco!**

**Guest:**** I wouldn't go so far as to say 'fuck Valliere'. Thanks for your input though!**

**Guest:**** Here you go lad, one very matured Louise!**


	7. Down a Peg

**Down a Peg**

* * *

_Louise wandered around the floating city, off to attend to a chore that Alban had assigned her. It was nothing too strenuous; new arc canisters that were recently produced by a small-time company owned by an honest couple. Three months had passed since she opened her eyes to the new world that Alban had called Earth. She had found it ironic that while another name for the planet is 'Dirt' they didn't step on it; they were living above the clouds._

_When she asked about the reasoning for the name Alban just shrugged, she told her that some man that lived a thousand or so years ago called it that because he was standing on it. Knowing that the answer wasn't complete and that it just tickled Louise's inner scholar she continued to press for questions only for Alban to say:_

"_I don't know why they called it Earth at the time… all the information about it has been lost through time. Even when we use technology to bring them back, they were just lost again due to the appearance of the Ravagers,"_

_Ravagers_

_Just the name alone brought some sort of menacing atmosphere, she wanted to ask about it only for the doors to cut her off as the golem she had now met named, Bench called her for a chore. Thus, why she is here now. She looked around to see the city still as busy as ever. Reaching in the pocket of her new pants – one that Alban had generously bought for her, she picked up a small disc device that whirred to life before projecting a three-dimensional map. A red dot was at the centre that was continuously blinking telling her exact position._

"_Mr. & Mrs Cetans," she said._

_A pop up showed up that displayed the words 'please wait'. A second later a red line now traced outwards of the red dot which she followed. As she was flying to her location she noticed that ahead of her a crowd had gathered. Curious she closed the distance. As she got closer more and more voice started to enter her ears._

"_Move along!"_

_The crowd parted and allowed the one that's been garnering attention to move. With the crowd now spread out she finally spotted the one who's been gathering the crowd's attention; Red streaks of hair fell from her head down to her neck, a face marred by gunfire and sand, her body was nothing but full of metal parts with the only thing that kept her humanity was her face. Remove the gunpowder and sand Louise would've considered the woman to be beautiful._

_She floated away from the crowd and towards the direction, she came from, tilted her head in confusion as she wondered where she was going only to be cut off when she heard pained groaning. Turning back, she saw something that passed the crowd; suspended by some force field was a man with black hair. To her horror she spotted the reason for his agony; both of his robotic arms were gone, one looked like it was torn by brute strength and the other was cleanly sliced off. Unfortunately for Louise, it wasn't over. His leg was completely bisected with sparks coming out, the other looked like it was warped, like it was subjected to a large amount of heat making it melt._

_The pained man moved passed her as her eyes continued to trace it, wondering to herself what just happened._

* * *

Eleonore sat on a stool with a frown as she observed the interaction between her sister and the Bench. They have been going at it for a while now, talking about Louise's combat abilities and other terms that flew over her head due to not even hearing that such a word had existed. While both talked, she looked around to see some unusual materials that she doesn't recognize. Standing up she decided to wander around and have a look at the pod bot's workshop.

Walking towards a wooden table she found some iron ingots and a few other metals stacked neatly, beside the stack of metals were matte grey materials that she found out to be metals but she didn't know of what quality, they were all melted and formed in shapes that she could not understand for the life of her. Seeing that there is of no significance to the wooden table she proceeded to look around some more.

This time she stopped right in front of a full set of metallic body parts, she knew these parts were once Louise's as she could recognize the large charcoal black that spread from the chest of the torso, courtesy of what Bench had called 'energy discharge'. Looking at it now she had to ponder, what made Louise give away her humanity? They had been with her for a while now and she had not once mentioned the place where she turned herself into some sort of golem.

Her curiosity was cut off when she heard Bench shouted 'impressive'. Deciding to ask the questions later she decided to see what the fuss was all about. When she sees the two, she became confused as there seemed to be nothing that had changed. She decided to ask her curiosity as to what Bench got worked up about to which the pod bot had given off a few high-pitched beeps that sounded like he was eager to show it to her.

"Alright, do you see this?" Bench said as he held up a bundle of arrows inside a field.

Eleonore nodded as she watched with mild interest as Bench placed it closer to Louise's abdomen region. Her mild interest turned into shock she sees that Louise's abdomen opened up, similar to how one would spread dirt with nothing but their hands, the open section of Louise took the arrows in and 'swallowed' the bundle without so much of a resistance.

She was about to give a comment about what's so fascinating in eating arrows were it not for the fact that Louise's arms suddenly shifted, the nanites moved under the will of their master. When they were done what replaced her hands were now two large barrels, though when Eleonore looked closer, she noticed that there was a point inside the barrel. Louise seemed to have noticed her elder's unsaid question and aimed her barrel-hands towards her old torso before shooting it.

A 'fwip' sound resounded in the warehouse followed by a loud clang that seemed to have originated at her old torso. It didn't take long for Eleonore to put two and two together when she had finally realized that Louise was using the arrows that she had swallowed earlier into ammunition for her… 'hand cannons'?

She looked at Louise whose grin was getting wider by the second.

* * *

"Siesta!"

The aforementioned maid stood up from her seat inside the busy kitchen and walked towards the head chef, Marteau. The man was nothing short of a living presentation of a bear… that is if the bear is more friendly than ferocious. He wore a chef's coat along with the hat to finish the getup, he had a fixed face and eyes that can tell who you are with just one glance, it was to be expected as he did work in the academy far longer than any of the staff that Siesta had met, alongside with the head maid.

He's taller than most people who are in the academy with the only exceptions being the old headmaster, Old Osmond, and the flame mage teacher, Jean Colbert. The man's muscular arms were something not to laugh about, if Siesta were to wage, it wouldn't be far fetched if her boss was somehow an ex-knight.

She stopped thinking about those thoughts as she approached him. The man was shouting at a few younger chefs – telling them what to make and what was ready to be served. She walked over the wooden counter of the kitchen only to be given a plate of strawberry shortcake. Without any questions, she gave a nod before taking the shortcake and walked off.

"Siesta, take that to that one boy who keeps flirting with girls,"

"You mean, Master Guiche?"

Marteau waved his hand dismissively, "yeah, yeah, him, go,"

If a new staff member were to hear the way he speaks to nobles they would've told him not to say their names in such a manner. But if it were a veteran staff member, they would've just ignored such action and went back to doing their respective duties, it was obvious that the head chef did not have any sympathy towards nobles. And to be frank, if Siesta were given the rare chance of having spoken what she thinks of nobles she would probably say the same thing. Of course, such chances are just wishful thinking.

Stepping out of the kitchen she made her way towards the courtyard where the second-year students are having their tea time. Looking over the tables she searched for the blonde noble. Finding her quarry, she approached him. The boy was sitting in front of another noble… Mistress Montmorency if she remembered. The boy was holding his signature rose in a carefree way as she fed the other blonde with ringlets compliment after compliment. Siesta wanted to roll her eyes as she watched the 'drama' that was happening right in front of her.

"Master Guiche,"

Guiche seemed to have shown slight displeasure because of the interruption. He addressed the perpetrator only for his eyes to shift from slight annoyance back to flirty eyes. "Yes, maid?"

Siesta felt the urge to throw up as she was practically getting looked over by a boy who seemed more eager to get in between her legs. Of course, the girl that was with him was oblivious to what was happening as she continued to pet her new familiar: a frog. She resisted the urge to vomit as she continued to serve the boy in front of him.

"Here is the strawberry shortcake that you have ordered," she said as she took the dessert and served it to the noble.

While the maid was bending down to serve the dessert, Guiche managed to sneak a glance at her ample cleavage that was proudly on display for him. If it wasn't for the fact that the maid was a commoner, it was obvious that he would be head over heels for her… just like every other girl that he had ever met since he enrolled in the academy. The 'mountainous' view that was given to him was taken away quickly as the maid stood up and waited for her next orders.

"Will that be all, Master Guiche?" she asked.

He voice was very nice to hear. He could listen to that voice for hours and he wouldn't get tired of it. Sadly, the life of a Grammont is always moving. He waved his hand dismissively, without any other words, the maid gave a curt bow before walking off to serve another noble… much to her dismay.

* * *

A series of high-pitched beeps echoed inside the warehouse that housed Bench, Louise, Cattleya and Eleonore. The cause for Bench's sudden excitement could be described by the pink-haired girl that was standing right in front of them; Louise stood up in amazement as she admired the new capabilities of her Ravager body. The Ravager that she fought stood at a frightening height of 8 feet. That was also including the fact that its body has consisted of nothing but nanomachines.

According to Bench, the number of nanomachines that the Ravager housed was five times than the number of blood cells a normal healthy human being can produce, this was crazy because according to Bench the average amount of red blood cells that a healthy human can produce is around twenty to thirty trillion blood cells.

And the nanomachines that make up her body is five times more than that amount

Suffice to say, in the event that a very strong attack was to hit her, she had more than enough to repair the damages… add the insane factor that the Ravager core that is housed in her body could produce more of those. Aside from those absurd numbers another factor why Bench was happy was the abilities that Louise's body can perform.

They have already established that she can become a moving artillery weapon, she can absorb anything and use it as a ranged weapon. A boulder? She can make a gigantic cannon to compensate for it. A spear? She can make a ballista that can put the Romans' mightiest artillery to shame. Seeing that she can do these, Bench became more curious as to what her new body can do.

Its capabilities are nothing short of extraordinary. And that was coming from a floating pod bot!

Using her core, she managed to create a magnetic current around her body, using this she took nanomachines away from her body and formed six barrels that floated behind her, looking over her shoulders. Both Cattleya and Eleonore looked at the floating black barrels with slight curiosity. Eleonore crossed her arms as she asked the question that was lingering between both elder sisters.

"What are those supposed to be?"

One of the barrels floated towards Louise's arms, it lost if magnetic flow and fell on her arms. Despite it being made of nothing but nanomachines it managed to retain its original shape. She showed the object to both of her sisters and began to explain.

"This is an Ion Beam Cannon, it creates intense heat which is then shot out at great speeds, this creates a beam of plasma which can instantly melt any type of metal,"

Eleonore raised an eyebrow at that, Louise saw this gesture and of course wanted to prove her wrong. She willed one of the floating blasters to aim down a set of steel armour that was just sitting on an armour stand. A bright yellow beam began to glow inside of the blaster before shooting a bright beam of yellow light that connected from the barrel towards the steel armour. Once the beam had died down Cattleya and Eleonore gave shocked looks. The former had a hand on her mouth while the latter had her jaws slightly open.

The steel armour's chest plate was warped, the plasma beam ha penetrated through the supposed strongest metal in Halkeginia. The rims around the holes of the armour had melted circumference which still glowed a hot orange. Satisfied with the results, Louse guided the barrel back, it floated back behind her.

"Fascinating," Bench said as he floated closer to Louise. More specifically the barrels that were floating behind her. "Where did you get such an idea? I only know of Ion Blasters, so I'm wondering on where you got such an inspiration,"

Louise gave the pod bot a grin before placing both of her arms around her waist, "I already knew the gist of how Ion Blasters work. So, I thought 'why not make an Ion Blaster that can give out a continuous beam?' I've been looking everywhere around Bans for the perfect parts. While I have made the body and its functions, I had one problem," she said as she raised a single finger.

Bench gave a series of beeps, "Energy output,"

Louise nodded, "Ion Blasters alone already consume lots of power in it of themselves, you always have to keep spare Arc batteries and those things are already expensive, so I looked for a new power source. Cyber Cores,"

There was a brief silence inside the warehouse. The two elder sisters looked at each other in confusion – hoping to find the answer that both of them never had. The silence was broken when Bench gave off loud beeps while giving a voice of realization. Upon seeing the pod bot's reaction, Louise gave an apologetic smile.

"_You_ were the one that was taking the all of Cyber Cores!" He said while pointing the non-existent finger.

Louise scratched the back of her head, "Oh yeah… I forgot about that,"

Bench stared at the cyborg girl for a second before giving a mechanical sigh, "whatever, it already happened," he said before looking at her again, "so I assume that you use the Ion Blaster through your new core?"

Louise nodded enthusiastically, "you're right, but you know the catch?" she gave a pause almost expecting an answer from the pod bot, her patience ran short, unfortunately, "I'm not even tired, my systems are telling me that everything is still in normal condition!"

Bench seemed to have stopped in mid-air, the processors inside his system worked on overdrive at the revelation that was just given to him. "T-that's impossible, all cores have a limit… hell, even the core that keeps Bans afloat has a core that can only last for ten millennia!"

Upon hearing that statement come out of Bench, both sisters did a double take as they looked at the pod bot with slight shock. "T-t-ten millennia!?"

Bench looked back at both of the sisters, there was this unusual air around the pod bot. It almost felt like arrogance… or was it pride. "You bet! Created by Doctor Irwin Flashlight, during the year 3021… it's always an honour to meet such a man. Sadly, he passed away after he built the L.H.C.,"

"The L.H.C.?" Eleonore asked.

"How do you not kno-"Bench aggressively said before getting nudged by Louise… though it was more of a push for the pod bot since it was 3 tonnes that were pushing him away. He was about to continue his personal opinion about the existence of magic but he didn't when he saw the already reddening face of Eleonore, "The L.H.C. was a massive core,"

He said before he dropped a small disc from a small compartment in the middle of his cylindrical body. The disc floated towards the centre of the small square that the assembled people had formed. It glowed a bright yellow before displaying a spherical object; the sphere was separated into four quadrants with each of them being blocked by a barrier made by an unknown metal. In the centre of the sphere was another sphere but smaller.

"It was built as a last resort after the discovery of the existence of Ravagers. Supposedly, it was enough to power five solar systems simultaneously, for a millennium" Bench explained.

Cattleya raised an eyebrow at the new term. Fortunately, instead of asking the pod bot she turned to ask her little sister. Louise gave a nod and asked Bench to halt his explanation – much to his disappointment. Once a brief explanation as to what a solar system is it left both of the elder sisters shell-shocked. Of course, such a revelation is nothing without scepticism.

"I don't believe you… to think that there are other worlds out there… surrounding our… I find that hard to believe," Eleonore said though her voice was less confident than it was before.

"And if someone told me the same thing years ago, I wouldn't believe it as well," Louise said. "But solar systems exist, and they are far older and humans and cyborgs alike… but for the sake of understanding the L.H.C. you have to believe that they exist,"

Eleonore hesitated at the thought of such revelation but in the end, she decided to believe such an outlandish tale. Accepting her approval Bench continued on with his tale. "-as I was saying before I was _rudely_ cut off," he said before turning his attention to Eleonore, the blonde-haired sister simply rolled her eyes. "The L.H.C. is capable of powering five solar systems simultaneously, but if it were to power something as small as a floating city when compared to _five solar systems_, then it is to be expected that the lifetime of the L.H.C. would end up longer,"

"And this floating city… is it something similar to Albion?" Cattleya asked.

Louise gave a short chuckle, "something like Albion… but greater, you see Bans – the floating city – is literally just that: a _floating city_ there is no ground, its citizens move around the city using jet packs or if you're a cyborg like me," she said as she placed a palm on her chest, "you can just fly to where you need to,"

"And who is the ruler of this floating city?" Eleonore asked with intrigue.

The one who answered her question this time was Bench "A group called: The Council. They are the ones who make the calls on how the city functions. Most of the time they let the city do its own thing. During events like say a Ravager attack, they take on the reins, they call out what to do and to the city and its citizens must follow it without question,"

Cattleya smiled, "Well I must say; The Council seems to be a powerful group of mages if they can defend a floating city on their own,"

At that point the whole warehouse was silent. None spoke a word as Louise and Bench gave Cattleya a look as if she had grown three heads all of a sudden. "They were not mages," Louise slowly said.

Then this time it was the two elder sister's turn to look at the other pair in confusion. "But I thought they were the ones who make the decisions. They should be mages since they are leading a floating city," Eleonore said.

Louise shook her head, "None of them are mages… hell, I'm friends with one of the Council members and occupy three seats in The Room and to him and everyone in The Room the word 'magic' is nothing but 'science that cannot be explained'."

Eleonore shook her head as she tried to get a hold of what her little sister is trying to tell her, "Little sister… are you telling us, that this floating city that you're talking about is led by commoners?"

Louise was about to answer her question but all of a sudden, a faint voice of a student made itself known in the warehouse, "Hey, did you hear?"

"Yeah, a maid is going to get fired because she made two students cry,"

"Who's issuing this?"

"The one whose father is a general, Guiche de Grammont,"

"That student? Oh, this will be interesting indeed,"

The pair of voices died down and at that moment Louise moved, she power-walked her way towards the door. Her sisters asked where she was going but she didn't answer. From what she remembered, despite spending eight years in Bans, she could faintly remember the personalities of her old classmates. While there were some whom she does remember clearly there were also some she didn't want to remember but due to circumstances, she couldn't simply forget them.

Guiche de Grammont was one of them. Of course, the obvious reason as to why she still remembers him is because he is one of her tormenters back when she was still a naïve girl who thinks being a noble is everything. She also remembers that the soldier boy was nothing but a playboy who wanted nothing more than to enter the skirts of women.

Approaching the courtyard where her mechanical heart sank as she took in the view. The maid, which she remembered to be the one she shook hands with was on her knees begging with running tears to be brought back into the job. The ones who were listening to her begging were the headmaster, secretary and of course the boy himself, Guiche – Louise had to keep herself from bursting out from laughter as she noticed red hand prints on Guiche's face.

"Please, Headmaster Osmond, I need this job," she begged.

"I'm sorry, but rules are rules,"

"I haven't broken any of them!"

"Liar! You hurt the feelings of two beautiful women right in front of my eyes… I have no other choice but to fire you from this academy so that you may never attempt such a thing again," Guiche declared, more out of bravado than anything else.

"Please, Master Grammont, I didn't know that that potion belonged to Madame Montmorency. It fell out of your pocket so I had assumed that it was yours,"

Both the secretary and headmaster looked to the boy with a questioning look. A bead of sweat fell from the boy's forehead but fortunately, he managed to come back with a suitable retort. "There you go again, lying and right in front of the headmaster no less! I still don't know how you have managed to keep your work here without getting fired on the first day. For your disobedience, you must be punished!"

With his intentions clear to everyone that was watching, he opened his palm and brought it down.

"Wha-"

He looked behind him to find that his hand was stopped by another hand, though unlike the normal human hands the one that was holding on his was black. Tracing the arm, he soon found out that the one who was holding his hand was none other than the talentless Louise the Zero. The pink-haired girl was wearing an upset look on her face as she looked at the blonde boy.

"I think she has learned her lesson, Guiche," she said with a tone of finality.

"Why are you doing this Valliere? Don't you see, that she's a liar?" Guiche said.

Louise looked at the maid whom she finally realized it was the same maid that she had shaken hands with the other day; Siesta. The look of desperation in her eyes was boring down on the pink-haired cyborg. After a pause of just staring at her, she looked back to Guiche.

"I know liars when I see one," she said.

Guiche smirked and Siesta's look became even more desperate. "If you know, then you'll unhand me this instant so that I can deliver rightful justi-"

"I'm talking about you, dipshit,"

Guiche sputtered while stepping back now that Louise had let his hand go. "W-what are you implying, Valliere!"

Louise gave a shrug, "It is as I say, you're a liar,"

Guiche paused for a second before standing up straight and wore a smug smile on his face, "And where is your proof, Zero?" Louise gave out a snort, much to Guiche's amusement. He frowned as she continued to giggle, "what's the matter?"

"I have all the proof I need," Louise said. Guiche gave her a confused look to which she answered by pointing her own cheeks then nodding towards him. After that she looked at the two assembled adults; the headmaster and the secretary, "Which one would you believe; a playboy who has been caught red-handed by two women who were cheating on her or a maid who was simply doing her job?"

After she asked this question, she noticed that there was a group of students that had already gathered in the curiosity of what is happening. While Louise looked around at the gathering crowd, Headmaster Osmond turned to Guiche.

"Master Guiche, is what I am hearing true? That you have been mingling with the opposite gender in this academy?"

"H-Headmaster… why would I do such a thing?!" the blonde boy said as a bead of sweat slid down the side of his face, "Louise is spouting lies!"

The old man gave the general's boy a deadpanned look the nervous posture, darting eyes and sweaty forehead. Yeah, he was not born yesterday, "Yet you have two have red handprints of your face… or are you suggesting that it was a male of your age who slapped you?"

The gathered crowd laughed at the headmaster's words, meanwhile Guiche placed a hand on his face and hissed when it stung. His face was starting to look like the marks that were on his cheeks as the gathered group of students laughed at his misfortune. Some of them are even calling him out; telling him that he deserves what he did and that he should've seen it coming when he decided to go on his 'nightly adventures'.

The ageing headmaster gave out a tired sigh, "Master Guiche, I know that you are already a responsible you noble, but it embarrasses me much so as you to remind you that this place is an academy. This is a place where you learn how to use your magic and learn how to properly use the privileges that have been given to you. This is not the place where you socialise and mingle with others for the sake of love… I'm sure you will be able to pursue such an adventure when you are older."

At that point, the stifles of chuckles and giggles became full-blown laughter. Osmond frowned at the academy's students' behaviour and decided to fix it. He planted his cane on the ground which generated a small earthquake – not enough to destroy the academy but enough to get the students' attention. When they finally did quiet down, he glared at all of them making all who locked on his gaze flinch or shrink.

"All of you are supposed to be gentlemen and ladies and yet all of you behave like five years old! Don't laugh at your fellow peers' error, don't think that we don't know what all of you have been doing. My teachers and I have only been lenient to your generation because we know that when you grow up such small delights like this will rarely ever happen when you finally grow old,"

At that the whole gathered group quieted down, some looking down and others were looking to the side. Either they were showing actual guilt or mocked-guilt, the old headmaster didn't know. But at least he hoped that his message managed to get to almost everyone. After scolding the students, he turned his gaze to Guiche.

"Master Guiche, I simply cannot fire a staff member of this academy for the sole reason of 'hurting two beautiful maidens' when you're the main reason that they are hurt. This type of misconduct cannot be accepted in this academy so I hope that you will fix this… can I be assured that you are responsible enough to do that?"

"Y-yes headmaster,"

The old man gave a nod before bidding Siesta stand up and put her packed bags back to the servant's dormitory. Siesta still too shell-shocked about what had just happened required Louise to knock her out of her shocked state. Quickly standing she grabbed both of her packed bags and walked towards the servant's dormitory, not before giving a quick glance at Louise.

Once all of that drama was finally gone both the headmaster and secretary left the grounds and back to their respective offices. After a moment of silence, the gathered group finally started to thin out. Louise for her part also decided to leave and continue researching about her new body with Bench. Meanwhile, Guiche never moved from his spot, his eyes filled with rage as he repeated the scene of him getting humiliated by none other than Louise the Zero over and over again.

He finally snapped his head to the left when he felt something touch his leg. Looking down he spotted his summoned familiar. He tried to give his familiar a smile but all that came out was a frown. Deciding that comforting his familiar is useless he looked around the area where he stood. There were still some students mingling around though they were there because they want to rather than to watch him and his embarrassing state. Dismissing them he locked eyes with the back of Louise Valliere. Anger boiled inside of the blonde as he directed all of his reasoning down to the depths of the void. Standing up he took a deep breath before he called out the pink haired cyborg's name.

Louise turned around and raised an eyebrow, Guiche gave off a short smirk, "I challenge you to a duel,"

"Mr Grammont!"

Guiche froze from his spot and looked behind to see Professor Colbert stomping his way towards him. "Believe that one of the academy's rules state that duels between mages are forbidden! You have just been scolded by the headmaster, I hope you have not forgotten that immediately," he said after giving him a slight glare.

"B-but-!"

"No 'buts' Mr Grammont, go back to classes. Break time is over," he said sternly making it clear.

Guiche wanted to raise another point but the glare that he received from his professor froze him, the glare reminded him of his father; cold and firm. All anger in his body lost itself as he was frozen in slight fear at the professor's eyes. Forget about how he managed to instil such feeling inside of him if he didn't do what he wanted he was more liable to a punishment much worse than public embarrassment!

Without any other words, he gave a hesitant bow before making his way towards the tower where they were conducting classes. Before he could enter the double doors, he gave a subtle scowled look at Louise.

Only to freeze in fear when his sky-blue eyes locked with her _red_ eyes. His mind tried to tell him that what he was seeing was nothing but an illusion, yet the other part of his head told him that what he saw was the real deal. Louise's head was tilted to the side, a manic grin on her face, the lines on her body glowed a dull crimson. He quickly turned back and proceeded to walk towards the classroom. Albeit, with more gusto.

Meanwhile, Louise turned around and made her way back to the warehouse. She manipulated the nanomachines to cover a part of her mouth as the manic grin was still there.

"_Fuck, almost cause a massacre there,"_ she thought. _"I need to keep myself in check,"_

* * *

**A/N: *MASSIVE SIGH OF RELIEF* It is finally done! And boy was this chapter a long one. Probably the longest one that I have written in a long time! What are your thoughts about this chapter? Things like Louise's Ion Cannons (A cookie for the one who can guess where I got the reference from. I'll give you a hint: it's a movie!) How about Siesta's inner thoughts about nobles, was it in line of her character or it wasn't. Also more information about Bans!**

**For those who are complaining about why I didn't do the 'obligatory Guiche fight'… let's face it, after reading the 'Recalibration' chapter, did you really think Guiche would have a chance in fighting her? I hope their stare down with each other was more than enough though.**

**Enough of this, let us get right into the reviews!**

**Guest: ****I really want to assure you that yes, I will still continue 'Blue Taijitu' but I'm also scared that I might not follow through. I have been very busy with other projects like the 'Jumper' series, 'Slaying Runs in the Family', 'Zero' and other fanfictions that are also experiencing the same with 'Blue Taijitu'. And for that, I am officially declaring that 'The Blue Taijitu' will in be in hiatus. Terribly sorry.**

**Lucian Naruto: ****Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about her. I just want to make a decent foothold for Cyborg Louise. The latest you'll probably see her is during the Familiar Competition.**

**Touhoufanatic:**** Thank you for reading and I hope I won't disappoint!**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, as always, constructive criticism is appreciated and with that I bid you all adieu.**

**Peace~**


	8. Search and Rescue

**The Familiar Festival**

* * *

_Louise floated around the city of Bans, the look on her face tells any bystander that she was looking for something and they wouldn't be far-fetched. Looking down on her map, she made sure that she was where the marker told her to go. Looking ahead she realized that she was looking right in front of a window. She wasn't surprised though, the city itself is floating without any ground to step on. Why build doors when you can just enter through the window. She knocked on the window and waited for an answer. As she waited, her thoughts wandered back into her world, Halkeginia – more specifically, the Magic Academy._

_Academy_

_It had been a long time since she had come to terms that she may never be able to come back. During the first week of her arrival, she desperately tried to use her magic wand but every time she tried casting, instead of the usual explosion, it was replaced by nothing. She should've seen it coming though, according to her studies magic stems from their centre and it spreads out to the entire body. Cutting off her arms and replacing them with metallic arms should have been the first hint that told her: she would never be able to cast magic ever again. No magic, no way back home._

"_Louise?"_

_Turning around she saw a young man, he had scraggly jet-black hair and ocean coloured eyes. His body consisted of mostly metal while the only thing remaining human was his head. He also wore a blue hooded jacket and grey track pants. He looked at her with a questioning gaze that told her that he was still waiting for an answer._

"_You are Louise… right?" he asked._

_His question knocked her out of staring contest with him as she reached out a hand where he took it and shook. "I'm sorry, I was just overwhelmed,"_

_The man shook his head, "That's alright, I get the same reaction every time I meet a new person,"_

_As they let both of their hands go a thought suddenly crossed itself within Louise, "How did you know my name?"_

_The man's face turned up to an 'ah' before he tapped the side of his head with his metallic finger, "I modified my eyes so that they'll be able to recognize anyone around the city of Bans,"_

_The thought of being able to know somebody's name without the permission of asking them slightly made her uncomfortable, "Do your eyes also tell other information?"_

_Seeing her caution, he shook his head immediately, "N-no no! It's nothing like that, I'm only scanning your face. After that, a database containing all of the names that reside in Bans. It will then try to match your face with the closest look alike. It won't look up your private information or anything,"_

_Understanding almost all of what he said, she gave an 'oh' expression before calming down. With the small misunderstanding done they started making the transaction. Opening her pack, she pulled out two arc rods and a single Cyborg core. As she does this the person brought his arm up, a small section of the arm opened up and projected an image that displayed numbers and other information. Dialling in the correct amount, Louise brought up her own arm and projected the same image as the man in blue. She watched as the numbers in the image begin to rise._

_Once it was done, they both brought their arms down and nodded to each other before flying away to their destinations. As Louise flew across the city of Bans, she thought about the name of the man that dealt with her._

"_Alloy Drexon… weird name," she said mostly to herself._

* * *

"Let's give it one more try, Flame!"

Kirche, with an outstretched hand for aesthetics, commanded her familiar. The flame salamander gave a happy trill before opening its mouth and breathed a thin line of fire that spiralled which made the entire performance pretty. With a satisfied grin, Kirche nodded to herself and decided to take a break. She made her way towards a lone tree for some shade when she spotted someone already there: Louise.

It's no secret to the entire academy that they knew who Louise is now. With the whole incident revolving around the black golem that was publicly dubbed as a 'Ravager'. Among other things, there was also the whole show she showed to the entire academy – her fighting against a dozen golems without even breaking a sweat. And finally, her small achievement of preventing the firing of one maid.

Seeing all of that first hand, Kirche had to wonder: what happened to Louise? It was clear that the aura she emanates is nothing compared to the Louise that she knew; an air of pride and a massive ego. The Louise that stood before he reminds her of a fighter… a soldier.

"You want something from me?"

"O-oh… n-nothing, I was just going to go under the tree to get some rest," Kirche said.

"Well, no one's stopping you,"

Unprepared for Louise's forward question, Kirche stammered to get out an answer. The fact that Louise's attitude completely changed caught her off guard; usually, her attitude was around the lines of 'only attack when provoked', hence why Kirche was usually the one who starts most of their quarrels. Kirche took her offer and gingerly sat on the tree for some shade. She looked up at Louise and started to observe her.

Kirche is what one would call a gossip girl; where there was the latest gossip, sure enough, she would be around to hear about it. There isn't anyone in the school who would know more about rumours than the red-haired Germanian girl. If there was something that Louise had failed to factor in when she came back to Halkeginia is the speed of how fast rumours can spread. For Louise had been on the end of the stick with these rumours since the beginning when most found out that her aptitude for magic was zero.

The last few days were no exception. With her recent achievements, Louise was just shrouded in a cloud of rumours. The rumours became too much to the point where even the _principal_ has issued an order that Louise and her partner, Bench, is to not be disturbed. The punishment was simple detention of course.

Such a punishment was minor when compared to the chance that Kirche has at the moment. For she is sitting five feet away from the girl that had caused all of this chaos in the school. And she may never have a shot of this happening again. Once she felt well-rested, she finally made her move.

"So… what are you doing out here Louise?"

"Just test driving a drone," Unknown with the word, Kirche asked, "It's a pilotless aircraft,"

Feeling that she had wasted valuable time, Kirche just pretended she understood what a 'drone' is and went on with her next question. "How did you get that skirt chaser to back down? "

"Is there any particular reason as to why you come here and talk to me?" Louise asked bluntly.

Unperturbed by her familiar bluntness, Kirche decided that stalling won't work on her. Shrugging her shoulders, she thought it would be best to be direct with her at the moment. "I'm just curious. There are plenty of rumours circulating you. And since this academy decided that talking to you is bad my curiosity just went up even further,"

Shaking her head left and right, Louise decided that it would be best to ignore her. Closing her eyes, she took over the drone which was flying a few miles away from the academy. The drone in question was made up of nanites that were produced by her body. After making those floating ion beam cannons, a question popped out her mind: how far can she control floating object.

Surely enough she decided that today would be a great time to find the answer to her question by making a nanomachine drone and make it fly far just to see how far her control of the drone is. For now, nothing is impressive, he knew plenty from her regiment that could fly a drone remotely for miles on end without even batting an eyelid. A mile is nothing special.

"Hey, Louise I am talking to you!"

With her concentration disrupted, she turned to address the perpetrator with an irritated look. Yet, despite giving Kirche the look that told her: 'you're getting irritating', her response was to just grin widely. Thinking that Louise would just ignore her if she asked another pointless question, she decided to decorate her next words delicately so that she can continue conversing with the pink-haired cyborg.

"You know, there are some boys in the school that are giving you some pretty indecent looks,"

Hearing this Louise scoffed, "They can look as much as they like. Frankly speaking, I don't give a damn about what goes around their heads,"

Surprised by this declaration, Kirche sincerely thought that appealing to her ego would make her open up. Unfortunately, for Louise, things like those meant nothing for her. She didn't care about the rumours that circulated the entire academy. They didn't know the struggles she had to go through to live the life she had now. She wouldn't let rumours dictate her life. This was the law that she had personally implemented for herself, she trashed her mother's 'Rule of Steel' and replaced it with her own rule: doing whatever it takes to survive; no matter how dirty it would get, she will always end up in the top.

Of course, such a mindset could only get Louise so far. Doing everything on her own eventually began to weigh on her. With that in mind, she had made exceptions in her rule which led her to the way she is right now. Louise sighed in annoyance as she looked at the shocked Kirche. While knowing that any student that interacted with her would get detention, she knew that such things were just unreasonable. Deciding that looking for another spot to conduct her main objective she started to walk away.

"Say, Louise, what happened to you?"

Louise stopped walking for a second to address Kirche's question. Looking at the red-haired teenager in the eye, she noticed the eyes that looked at hers told Louise that Kirche was done playing around and decided that it was best to be blunt rather than beating around the bush. The two stared into each other's eyes for a few solid seconds before Louise turned around and continued walking. Not before giving Kirche an obvious answer.

"I've changed,"

Walking away from the red-haired girl, Louise gave out a sigh. Unknown to all of the students on the campus, Louise had already forgotten most of them with some of her classmates unrecognisable in her eyes. Spending eight years living in Bans can take a toll on her memory, with the most recent memory being one that she did not want to talk to Bench. Aside from that, becoming a full-fledge cyborg also affected her mind since most of her organic body had been replaced with machines so that she would be capable of battling Bans' biggest enemies aside from the occasional Ravager. Suffice to say, she barely remembered anyone here in Halkeginia.

The exceptions were her family members, Henrietta and surprisingly, Kirche. She didn't know why the redhead would be the other person that she would remember, it might be because she was the most prominent figure in her school life. While she knew from the beginning that she wasn't the one who started her bullying, Louise was sure that Kirche was the one that stoked the fires to start it. Then again, it could be another reason that she couldn't put her finger on or she had forgotten.

Deciding that today's experimentations were over, made her way towards the kitchens to talk with Marteau. Upon reaching her quarry she opened the door; she was greeted with a busy kitchen with workers moving around like a well-oiled machine. Across the swathes of servants and maid and over the counter was a large man. He wore the standard chef attire with the only thing that made him look different was the red scarf wrapped around his shoulders. Arms that told of many culinary experiences and eyes that were keen on even the most minute details. At the moment, he was chewing on an apprentice chef for adding too much seasoning on the special stew that they were supposed to serve to the nobles later lunch.

"Chef!" Louise called out.

Upon hearing her voice, his stern look brightened but then it turned slightly sombre. He shook his head a few times before looking back at Louise with the biggest smile he could conjure up.

"Louise, come!" he bid her.

Louise walked forward; the servants moved away from her even without looking. As she reached the counter, she placed both arms on it and with a smile on her face, she proceeded to ask about things. Louise and Marteau talked for a few minutes with him shouting at a chef now and then. Louise's view on the man was something that she can respect, while he might've looked intimidating to the normal man, he was rather approachable once she got to know him. Which was why whenever she had the free time she would go and talk to him.

A few more minutes passed before Louise noticed something was off. It didn't take long for her to discover what it was.

"Say, Marteau, where's Siesta?"

That question alone made the entire kitchen halt. Seeing this as something strange, Louise looked around to see some of them looking down with a sad look on their eyes. Turning back, she saw the eyes of her large friend. A sorrowful look on his eyes met hers as he looked away. A long silence graced the entire kitchen as she waited for his answer. With a heavy gulp, he talked.

* * *

Louise walked out of the kitchen with a purpose. From what Marteau told her, Siesta was taken away from the academy from a noble named Mott. For a second she thought that what had happened was good for Siesta since she had told her the other day that she's using the money that earned to support her family. She thought that she would be earning more now that she was working for a noble. She thought that with the money that she would earn she would be able to have some spare for her indulgence while still having enough to support her family.

Unfortunately, Louise thought wrong.

After hearing from Marteau that this Mott person had come from the academy more than once already just to take one maid. Initially, Marteau thought for the first time that it was good for his employees that they would be working for a better payment. He had asked them to write back just to catch up since he had built such a good connection with his employees.

From the seventeen times that Mott came back to take another maid, only one had sent a letter.

It was a letter which told Marteau of all the shameless acts that Mott had committed to her. She was imprisoned in his mansion, and every night, the noble would do horrible things to her just to satiate his lust. The letter also told Marteau of how she escaped… and how she took her life after that.

He showed the letter to Louise and after that Louise's eyes turned cold. The core in her chest glowed a crimson red along with crimson lines that traced her body glowed. When Louise asked how long she had been gone, he told her that she had just left a few hours ago. Slamming the letter down she made her way out of the kitchen which leads to us now. Using her nano-drone she traced the road that lead from the academy. Through the drone's eyes, Louise found a carriage that was being escorted by eight soldiers on horses. She commanded the nano-drone in the drone to zoom in to take a peek at an open window.

On the front seat of the carriage was a man with a moustache, his lecherous grin could be seen even from where the drone was. On the back seat was Siesta, an uncomfortable look on her face. Louise willed the drone to zoom in even more to see the reason for Siesta's discomfort. Mott's hands on her thigh, from the looks of it though, his hands seem to inch closer and closer to her pelvis.

The core inside Louise glowed a brighter crimson and without any other question she willed the nanomachines in her body, her legs changed form and quickly turned into thrusters which she used to fly away from the academy. Once on a reasonable height, the now formed leg engines hummed louder and the next thing that the entire academy heard was a loud boom.

* * *

Siesta's heart was racing. Unfortunately for her, it was not one caused by love but fear. The hands that roamed her legs slowly inched closer and closer to someplace she didn't want it to. To make matters worse was the perverse look that the man in front of her was giving her. She wanted to take those hands away from her and slap the noble in front of her. But, she couldn't in fear that she would get fired and that the noble would shame her making it difficult for her to find another job.

"Siesta, look at me," Mott said.

The way he called her brought a chill down her spine. The tone he gave her name was a tone of lust. It disgusted her. She wanted to just scowl at him but she was scared that if she did, he would use his authority to submit her. Everything that he did she loathed.

"I said look at me," he said firmly this time.

With visible reluctance, she met his eyes. Never in her life did she want to run away and scream for her. Those eyes looked at her like a predator looking at a fresh piece of meat that was ready for the taking. His lecherous grin widened in satisfaction.

"That's more like it,"

One of his hands left her legs alone. This should've given her some form of respite. Instead, that same hand that was touching her leg, made its way to her chest. Her heart raced and panic settled in her eyes as his hands molested her breasts. She wanted to cry. She averted her eyes from him. This action seemed to only motivate the noble as he continued to touch her. He inched closer to her and whispered.

"All of this is for your family, remember?"

Her family? Yes, that was right. She was doing this so that she would get enough money so that she could help her family. His face inched closer. His lips pursed.

She obliged

Suddenly, the carriage lurched forward telling both of them that they had stopped.

This was followed by a scream.

* * *

Louise stood in the way of the carriage. The guards were looking at her with confusion and caution.

"Would you please move out of the way," one guard asked.

When she didn't comply and chose to continue standing on that one spot, one of the guards walked up to her to force her to move. That never happened unfortunately as the guard was grabbed by the throat and thrown away like he was nothing. This action alerted the other seven guards to draw their swords. The systems in her head started marking all of them as hostile. Willing the nanomachines in her body, they all formed seven floating ion cannons.

All ion cannons fired, despite her eyes covered in rage, Louise still had control over herself. Seeing that the guards in front of her were just doing their job she decided to disarm them by shooting at the swords. The intense heat from the ion cannons melted all of their swords leaving only a stump. Fear started to settle in their eyes as they slowly backed away from the pink-haired cyborg. Seeing this behaviour, Louise used it to her advantage.

"Take your horses and leave, I'm only here for the person inside the carriage,"

It took a second for the guards to comprehend the fact that she was sparing them before they commanded their horses to leave. She looked to her right to see the last guard that she had thrown made his way to his horse and followed his fellow guards.

The door to the carriage was opened and out came the person she was looking for. An upset look on his face as he made his way to the coachman.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked with irritation.

The coachman could only point a finger at Louise. Mott followed the finger before locking eyes with the cyborg.

"Give her back,"

It took Mott a few seconds to realise what she was talking about. "You mean, my newly acquired maid?" He shook his head, "You must be an idiot, I have already signed the pa-"

"I don't give a shit if you signed some stupid papers. Siesta didn't have a say on whether she would've liked being transferred or not," Louise said venomously, "Give her back,"

Irritated by the fact that he was cut off he spoke again, this time he spoke with an entitled voice, "do you know who I am, girl?"

"I don't care who you are, I only came for Siesta, so you're either going to comply or I will make you comply,"

Mott gave an offended look, "Are you commanding me, girl?!"

Louise didn't say anything. Instead, she only glared at him.

Mott gave an irritated sigh, "I will have you know, that you will regret talking to a noble like that," He reached inside his chest pocket and pulled out his wand, "I am Count Mott the Wave, my affinity is water and I am a triangle class ma-"

Suddenly, the girl in front of him disappeared. A half of a second later, he felt something fall on his feet. Looking down his eyes turned to pinpricks when he saw a hand holding a wand fall just in front of his feet. The end where it was sliced off was burnt telling him that it was cauterized. Then he felt it.

Pain. Searing hot pain.

He screamed as he held on the cauterized stump where his right hand should've been. Just when he thought the pain was easing up, he felt another spike of pain when his left hand fell to the ground. He stared in horror at both of his stumps. Both of them were cauterized preventing any form of blood loss. He was going to continue screaming only for his breath to hitch when he felt something hot near his neck. Behind him, was the pink-haired girl. Her cold glare could be felt even though he could not see her.

His rational mind had managed to wrestle with his panicked mind as he realised the main reason for her being here.

"Take her, take her and leave!"

Seeing his compliance, Louise commanded her nanites. Her heated arm blades returned to normal and she made her way to the entrance of the carriage. Behind her, Mott fell on his back as he tried to calm his frayed mind. Upon reaching the entrance, he found Siesta. Both of her hands were on her face as tears continued to fall. She wanted to enter the carriage and comfort her but she feared that her weight might just destroy the carriage.

Reaching with her hand she called out, "Siesta, it's alright, I'm here to bring you back,"

She opened her fingers slightly to see with her own eyes and hope that she wasn't dreaming. Seeing that it wasn't she threw herself at Louise, sobbing along the way. Louise gently patted her back whilst saying comforting words. Once Siesta had calmed down, she pushed herself away from Louise.

"I-I think I'm going to be fine… thank you,"

Louise gave nod before looking at the coachman with a glare. Said man flinched at her gaze. "Take her back to the academy,"

"B-but what a-about the C-Count?" he stammered.

"I'll deal with him," Louise said with finality.

Without any other questions asked, Siesta entered the carriage and with a promise of eating dinner together, she left. Once she was far away, she turned her attention to Mott who was still sobbing.

"W-what do you want m-more f-f-from me?" he trembled.

She grabbed the scruff of his clothes and brought him close to her face, "Where are the others,"

* * *

Louise brought up the wooden spoon and took a sip of the soup. While being a cyborg told her that she no longer required sustenance sometimes she takes the food just to feel some semblance of humanity in her. The taste was delicious, without saying anything else, she scarfed the food down to the last piece. In front of her, Marteau gave a hearty laugh at her behaviour while Siesta giggled. It had taken her until the night to save all the other women that were taken by the Mott. When she came back the servants in the kitchen welcomed her with open arms

With a sigh of relief, Louise looked at Marteau, "That's a good stew!"

"It should be after all this was all made with the mind that you would be saving Siesta from Count Mott," he paused before he looked for concern, "Speaking of the Count… what did you do to him, you do know he's the messenger,"

Louise nonchalantly waved her hand, "Don't worry, I made sure that he won't be speaking to anyone about this. Anyways, I have to go. The stew was good Marteau, you better not give that to the students,"

"If you say so, Louise. I shall call this stew, 'Louise's Usual'. Siesta, if you could escort her outside,"

The girl gave a nod before standing up and walked towards the entrance. Once outside, they continued to talk until both of them reached the warehouse.

"Louise… thank you again for saving me," Siesta said.

Louise nodded, "Anytime, I mean, what are friends for?"

For some unknown reason, a small sense of disappointment sparked itself in the back of Siesta's head but that was squashed immediately as they both said goodbye for the night.

* * *

"Captain… what can you make of this?" a knight asked.

"I-I don't know, son," the captain said.

"Could this be the 'Ravager' monster that has been circulating around the castle?" another knight asked.

The knights that were standing on a plot of land that once belonged to the messenger of the kingdom received a message from a commoner a few days ago. That commoner talked about an individual that was clothed in all black clothes with crimson lines traced all over their clothes. The commoner wasn't able to say anything else because the next thing the attacker said was to leave and take their belongings before the attacker burned the entire place to the ground.

The mansion's top half was gone, they can only imagine what kind of fire magic was used to completely remove the top half. On the steps leading to the entrance of the mansion, the head was pinned on the door. It didn't take them long to recognize who the person was. In front of the door, Mott's headless body laid still. Both hands were cut by something hot while between his legs was a large stain of blood.

"Whatever, monster this may be, the princess has to know," the captain said.

The knights left the land of the once Count with the intent of warning the princess of a possible threat.

* * *

**A/N: SORRY FOR THE LATE UPLOAD BUT HERE IT IS! I hope all of you enjoyed it.**

**What do you guys think of Louise's behaviour? Is it understandable from her perspective? Remember, Louise grew up for the last eight years in a world where she had to fight for her survival. She had to be ruthless and efficient or else the dangerous world the spent eight years in would swallow her. Do you think that she's mentally unstable? Or have I just took it to the extreme with how I just brutally killed Mott? Give me your opinions as I read all of them.**

**By the way, I made a Discord account. This would be perfect for me if anyone of you has any questions that are a little too specific. Be warned though, by asking these questions it might leave you spoiled as to what my plans are about 'Zero'. Aside from stories, we can also just casually talk about things. Here's my username:**

**Weekendsmash#1950**

**With that being said, time to read the reviews!**

**Touhoufanatic: ****if you mean 'pissing off cyborgs' instead of 'posting off cyborgs' then yes I agree making them angry, especially Louise is a bad idea.**

**Lucian Naruto: ****I have to agree with you there my friend, the number of nobles that know how to fight without their wands are so less. It also makes me mad about the fact that majority of the nobles feel so entitled with their status but throw away their wand and they are of equal footing with commoners.**

**Guest: ****Me: *sees this review* -happy face-**

**Nero: ****Thank you for the review! As for the pairing… I'll see what I can make do, if the situation makes itself present then I might take the opportunity with pairing.**

**AnimeA55Kicker: **

_**Chapter 1 reply: **_**Thank you for giving my story a chance!**

_**Chapter 5 & 6 reply: **_**Thank you for understanding the reason why chapter 5 has an angsty ending.**

_**Chapter 7 reply: **_**Oh, I didn't know about Cattleya's age being eight years older than Louise. Thanks for that information! Also, if you're wondering what Louise's moniker is, I am pretty sure, Bench made a mention about it in chapter 2 or 3.**

**With that being said I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter and without further ado, I bid you all farewell.**

**Peace~**


	9. Leisure

**Leisure**

* * *

"_Louise, could you help out here?" Alban called._

_Another solid minute had passed and the girl with plenty of hands didn't get a response. Thinking it weird, Alban decided to look for the pink-haired girl. Walking up the stairs to the second floor, she then made her way to the entrance of Louise's room. One of her arms reached out and knocked. A few seconds later Alban decided to knock again only to hear a loud crashing noise in her room. Alarmed by this, Alban immediately opened the console for the door and inputted the override code. With a loud hiss, the door slid open to the sight of Louise on the floor with paraphernalia of materials._

_Louise rubbed the back of her neck with a slight wince. Meanwhile, Alban stood in front of the door with a confused look. "What are you doing, Louise?"_

_Standing up while picking up the things that fell on her desk, Louise said, "I was just tinkering,"_

"_With what?" the multi-armed girl asked._

_Looking at the pink-haired girl's desk, she saw some random optics, some storage devices the size of a thumb and other materials needed to make a simple camera. On the side of the table were some glasses, though what she was making eluded Alban._

"_During one of the errands that Bench sent me to, I met a person who can identify who I am just by looking at me,"_

_Alban quirked an eyebrow at that statement, "Just by looking at you?"_

_Louise nodded with slight enthusiasm, "His body was almost machine too,"_

_With the descriptions made, it didn't take Alban to put two and two together, "So… you've met an Enforcer,"_

_Hearing the new title, Louise gave the multi-handed girl a questioning look. Without hearing the question, Alban explained how the Enforcers are a group of people who look around Bans looking for anything that was out of the ordinary, or illegal dealings. Upon hearing that Louise gave a worried look at Alban._

"_We're not an illegal business… right?" Thankfully, Alban replied with a simple 'no' gesture. "So… what do Enforcers consider out of the ordinary?"_

_Alban decided that telling her the following knowledge will take time, she entered Louise's room and sat on her bed. "Before I continue you talking about Enforcers, I'll give you some context but first, let me ask you this… what do you think of Bans?"_

_At that question Louise's eyes brightened up, "It's a wonderful place, it reminds me of the floating country, Albion. The people here are also nice, and the fact that there is no such thing as roads makes this place look like something that came out of a fantasy novel,"_

_Looking at how happy Louise is, Alban was slightly discouraged by what she was going to tell her. "I agree, Bans is a wonderful city… mostly wonderful," _

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Bans isn't what it seems, Louise… around twenty ago, it was a massive city, enough to cover the entirety of the Amazon Wasteland. It was supposed to be a city that protected its citizens from the menace of the Ravagers. And it worked, Ravagers both old and new were repelled by the city's once-great defences…," _

_Silence reigned over the room, Louise waited for Alban to continue the story, "…That is until… Ravager Blight came,"_

"_Ravager Blight?"_

_Upon mentioning that damned name, Alban proceeded to tell Louise one of Bans' most gruesome war with a single Ravager that just refused to die._

* * *

Kirche stared into her teacup with a bored expression. Her mind wandered to that small talk that she had with Louise a couple of days ago. She replayed two words that the pink-haired cyborg told her.

'I've changed'

There were plenty of meanings that could go behind those two simple words both mentally and physically. For one, Louise has changed physically, that strange suit that she wore every time she went out was for one. Two, just the way how she looks, moves and even reacts is different; it's like she's always alert, she's always on guard. There was also the way she spoke to her; it was like all their past rivalries had just simply upped and left which made her even more curious.

Never had she seen Louise talk to her in a neutral tone, usually, it would start with her sauntering up to her with a teasing grin. That alone was enough to make Louise bubble in irritation in which she thought was adorable, it was like looking at a child who had their favourite toy dangled above them just out of reach. Of course, if that child had a venomous tongue then it would pretty much look like Louise.

"My love, is everything alright?"

Her thoughts came to a halt when a voice reached her ears. Looking up from her teacup, she looked into the eyes of a teenage boy who had silver-white hair that reached to his neck. His features were along the lines of 'average handsome'. He had a look of confusion on his face, curious as to why she stopped paying attention to him.

"Everything is alright, Stix," She said in an attempt to calm him.

That didn't work seem to work however as he now looked at her with a small crease on his forehead, "I'm not Stix… I'm Vestro."

Kirche had to mentally click her tongue. She had forgotten the name of the boy in front of her which might've made him dislike her a little. With a little sweet talk, the boy's affection returned and they continued to enjoy their break. This went on for a few more minutes with him telling her stories about his _amazing_ accomplishments as a distinguished noble. If she had to be frank, she knew and everyone close enough to listen to his stories, that they were nothing more than made stories on the spot.

"_Seriously, saving a shop from getting robbed by seven raiders with two of them being a rogue noble all by himself… who would buy that?"_

Their relationship with each other had only started a week ago and after the last two days, she knew then and there that he wasn't her type. One of the main reasons would probably be because of his nonstop talking about stories that were not even close to the truth. The only reason for him and her being together is so that she could finally relieve herself of him. Initially, she thought that he was a fun person but that all changed when he was finally given free reigns on his mouth.

"Say, Vestro… can we just stop it here?"

Upon hearing those words, the entire school had come to witness another one of Kirche's infamous dumping

* * *

"Are you sure you can carry those?" Cattleya asked Louise with a worried expression.

The pink-haired cyborg in question walked out of her sisters' room carrying plenty of luggage. With the help of the nanomachines her body, carrying them was easy. Giving her elder sister a smile for assurance, Cattleya left it at that while giving her a small thank you. Meanwhile, Eleonore was standing outside talking with Bench. While the sight was something to behold, it still took both Louise and Cattleya a solid day before they concluded that they finally made up.

Louise and Cattleya left the building and made their way to the carriage that was sent by her mother to pick them up and send them home. While they weren't necessarily going home immediately, Eleonore decided that it was best to pack their things early so that they won't rush everything in the last minute.

"…and that is what Newton's Third Law states," Bench finished.

Eleonore nodded with understanding, "I can see how it would be similar to Braxton's Fifth Rule of magic,"

When both Cattleya and Louise first saw the two talking civil, they had initially thought that something weird was going on. They had been talking like this after she had sincerely apologised to the pod-bot. When Louise asked about this 'weird' behaviour that her eldest sister is doing she simply said:

'_I have found the error in my ways and I sincerely apologised to Sir Bench. Once we had set our grudges aside, he opened up to me by asking me the Rules of Magic,'_

While it wasn't as effective as it was before, the sight of Eleonore having the face of interest when talking about something that she hasn't heard of was truly weird. As for Bench, while it did throw Louise for a loop when he was talking for five minutes straight without even spouting out some arrogant or witty remark whenever Eleonore asks a question. Fortunately, she got used to it on Day Two. Now, seeing the two talking to each other, Louise and Cattleya could smile at the sight.

"What are you guys talking about?" Louise asked.

Eleonore turned around and addressed her little sister, "We were simply comparing the similarities and differences of the laws of physics and the rules of magic.

Bench gave off a few happy beeps, "I'm interested in how this 'magic' work, so while she's teaching me the rules of magic, I decided that I should share the laws of physics… probably some chemistry and biology as well,"

Cattleya lifted an eyebrow, "How would both of you continue teaching each other when Sister Eleonore and I are leaving in the next few days,"

Eleonore nodded, "While it will take some time, we can just send each other letters,"

"Unless…" Bench drew out.

Eleonore raised an eyebrow. Now curious at the pod bot's idea, she gestured for him to continue his train of thought. Bench was about to speak out his idea when he realized that he was standing in public. He looked left and right and to his dismay, students roamed around, they were either talking, bonding with their familiars or gossiping about him and Louise.

"Follow me," he beeped before floating back to the shack.

The three sisters looked at each other in confusion before deciding to follow Bench. Louise on the other hand, stayed behind so that she could place all of the luggage that they had brought with them back in the carriage. Once she was done, she made sure that the trunk of the carriage was securely locked so that no students will have any bright ideas. Satisfied, she left the carriage and made her way back to the shack when she suddenly heard shouting from a distance.

"YOU WILL REGRET THAT DECISION, KIRCHE!"

Louise looked towards the source of the shouting and spotted a boy with white hair stomping away from the courtyard where the nobles were having their afternoon tea time. From what she could assume, Kirche had dumped another boy. Of course, that meant that there was another person that had caught her interest. Realising that her thought process was thinking too much of her she shook her head.

"_Why should I care about what she does?"_ She asked herself more out of reassurance.

Without any other thoughts, she made her way to the shack where Bench and her elder sisters were. Pushing the large door, she spotted her sisters. Eleonore and Cattleya were both looking at the two items that were presented by them. One was a large black box that was fifteen centimetres thick and was tall enough to reach Cattleya's knees. On the front of the box were a multitude of buttons, finally, one of the corners of the box had an antenna. On top of this box was a small, flat, circular disk that had the same colour.

"The large box is both a signal detector and a transmitter. It can transmit anything at a pretty long-range, the disk is a holo-projector that can connect with the signal detector,"

Bench floated towards the front of the box. A small compartment opened up revealing a small appendage which flicked the switch of the box. Red and yellow lights brought the machine to life. Afterwards, Bench started to dial in some signals. This lasted for a few seconds and the two sisters were mesmerised by how quickly he worked with the box. Once satisfied, he moved back and started to beep slowly similarly to how a phone would ring when waiting for an answer.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Suddenly, the sides of the flat disk started to glow a bright blue. This was followed with some light buzzing which made the sisters jump slightly. Both of them looked at the now glowing disk with more curiosity than ever.

"Go on… take it," Louise spoke out making them jump while at the same time trying her hardest at not laughing at the faces that they're making.

Once they calmed themselves, Eleonore picked up the disk. The centre of the disk looked glowed dim and bright at the same pace, every time it glowed bright, the light would create a right that would ripple across the disk. With curiosity, Eleonore touched the disk. The machine gave off a small beep before it was replaced by a hologram of Bench.

"What took you so long to answer!?" the pod-bot shouted through the disk.

"Ah!"

Surprised by the sudden appearance of a small blue Bench, she accidentally dropped the disk. Fortunately, Cattleya had managed to calm her surprise and caught the disk.

"Can you be careful!? This is our only method of communication – outdated as it is. I am still making some spares so could you not break this one, _please!?"_ Bench scolded.

After a quick apology, Eleonore and Cattleya examined the holo-disk with intrigue – even touching the holographic pod-bot only for their hand to go through. "What kind of magic is this?" the eldest sister asked.

Bench gave out a short irritated beep, "it's not magic, it's technology,"

Eleonore scrunched up her face, "I've never heard of a country that's capable of creating this level of technology. The only country that I know that has better technology than Tristain would be Germania, mainly due to most of their populace not being nobles, their weapons are ingenious, some even capable of taking down a whole fleet of ships,"

Louise 'tsk'-ed her tongue three times, this gained the attention of both sisters. With an arrogant smile on her mouth, Louise spoke, "That's because none of the countries of this world is capable of making this level of tech yet, it was made in Bans,"

Eleonore paused, "What are you trying to say… it's almost as if you're telling us that you and Bench acquired this level technology from a… different… world…,"

Louise grinned wider as he realisation finally hit her eldest sister. Meanwhile, Cattleya's eyes widened slightly while putting a hand in front of her mouth.

"About damn time both of you realised," Louise said her grin showing.

* * *

**A/N:**** Well there you go, the newest chapter! Sorry for the long delay, I've been busy with other fanfictions like 'Jumpers: Paid to Shield the Shield Hero', 'Jumper: Keep the Invincible Girl, Invincible' and 'I'm Just a Narrator!'. Of course, I had someone to help me out. Under the username of BookWorm1540.**

**Anyways, what do all of you think of the latest chapter? Did I pace it right when Louise finally revealed that she lived in Earth for eight years? Any thoughts about this chapter please share it, I read all of the reviews and reply to all of them. Constructive criticisms are also appreciated. With all of that being said and done, time to read your reviews!**

**Tohoufanatic: ****Yeah, most of the time he deserves what he gets, it always brings a smile to my face to see people's OCs kill that noble.**

**Lucian Naruto:**** Yes, I agree, at this point, Louise's relationship with Kirche is all dependent on what our resident red-haired girl will do. She's been given a clean slate, best that she shouldn't put it to waste.**

**tymaxion:**** Thank you for your input for Count Mott's demise. To be honest with you, I wanted him to die in a much more brutal way but I feel that if I put too much, I might make Louise too edgy. Thanks for giving my story a read, expect more because the world that Louise lived in is made from my imagination with some references, it has its own history which will be slowly revealed as this story progressed.**

**With all of that said and done I bid all of you adieu!**

**Peace~**


	10. Intruder

**Intruder**

* * *

"_Thanks, Bench!" A loyal customer said_

"_Next time I see you broken I'm not going to fix it!"_

_The auto-door of Bench's workshop closed with a hiss. Night had already fallen hours ago and most of the residents of Bans had already clocked in for the night with the only activity being the Enforcers and the Hunters that were assigned to protect the once great, floating city. The hissing sound of an open door from behind made the pod-bot turn around to see his assistant walking out from Louise's room._

"_Finished the last patient?" the multi-armed woman asked._

_Bench opted for a couple of beeps which sounded like confirmation before starting to clean up his workplace. Alban helped speed up the process, picking up the used tools and broken pieces that were taken off from the patients that they treated. This continued for a couple of minutes; both were too exhausted from doing their morning jobs and just wanted to sleep. This peaceful silence was broken when Bench spoke up._

"_Getting all chummy with her, huh?"_

"_I'm just helping her," Alban said while giving an irritated look at Bench._

_Bench hovered up and down as a symbol of a shrug, "Alright, alright, I'll say this though, she's cute,"_

_Alban scrunched up her face in confusion, she was about to point out how weird it was for Bench to identify Louise as a cute girl but Bench was already ahead of her, "Just because I can't 'love' doesn't mean I can't tell the difference between a cute girl and a… not so cute girl. I'm not so basic Alban, I'm not like those last century A.I.s,"_

_Alban raised three arms in a sign of surrender, "Alright, we'll leave it at that,"_

_Another wave of silence rolled in as both of them finished up their cleaning. Alban gave out a tired yawn and left the workplace and made her way to her room which was on the second floor and just below of Louise's room. Bench, on the other hand, stayed behind and decided to take stock on their inventory, checking to see if they have enough to treat tomorrow's line of patients._

_Just before Alban reached the stairs, Bench spoke up, "Just to put it out there, I'm not opposed to it, to be honest, I wouldn't mind. And to quote a person, 'you've been cooped up here all this time'. You need somebody Alban, take this from a friend,"_

"…_Whatever," Alban called out before walking up the stairs and going in her room to retire._

_The next day rolls around and Alban was looking right in front of Louise's room. She shook her head and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, it was answered. The pink-haired girl looked up to meet her eyes._

"_Alban? What do you need?"_

"_Oh, uh, Bench told me that we need to get two boxes of Cyber Cores, we've run out apparently," She told her._

_Louise tilted her head in confusion, "Didn't we just buy three boxes a week ago?"_

_One of her back arms reached over the back of her head and started scratching it, "A Hunter came to us with an overheated auto-blaster arm, after that he bought a spare box 'just in case' he said,"_

_Louise raised her eyebrows in understanding, "Oh, I see… alright, let me just get ready, besides, I wanted to test my glasses,"_

"_Cool,"_

_A few minutes later, Louise came out of the room wearing a light-yellow shirt and brown shorts. Her jet-pack was strapped behind her back, she looked at Alban who only opted for a dark blue with a white line jogging pants. Both of them walked towards the door. As they were walking Alban looked to her left to see Bench staring at her, the patient, which was a male was also looking at her with a small smirk. With one heated glare, both pod-bot and patient went back to minding their own business. She must've been imagining it but she thought she saw the patient mouth 'good luck'._

* * *

"Fascinating," Eleonore said as she looked through a device that was called a 'microscope'.

Bench beeped in confirmation, "While this type of tech was introduced centuries ago, I will admit, it still has its use during this generation,"

Night had already fallen but it seems like the eldest sister of the Valliere family is more inclined to reject sleep for more knowledge. The two had been studying the laws of Physics for a good three hours ago before they moved on to Biology. If she wasn't tired after this, Bench considered introducing her to more advanced Chemistry. Eleonore leaned back on the wooden chair that was given to them by Professor Colbert. A small sigh of relief escaped her mouth as she processed everything that was in her mind.

"I suppose, we can stop it here for now," Bench said.

With a small moan, Eleonore sat straight up, "No, I can continue,"

"Uh-huh, you are going to sleep. I'm no flesh-skin but even I need time to process all of the data that I have inside of my storage,"

Eleonore gave a small frown before relenting to the pod-bot. Silence reigned in the shack once more as the blonde Valliere retired for the night. Bench was about to do the same when he noticed two blips on the radar. The first blip was easily identified as, Eleonore. Meanwhile, the second one was just to the right of Eleonore, twenty-five metres away from the Valliere. He also noticed that the second blip's elevation was seven metres high, therefore Bench assumed whatever or whoever it was, was on the wall of the academy.

Eleonore's blip started moving to the left before disappearing from his radar. Meanwhile, the secondary blip moved a few more metres before Bench noticed something weird. The elevation of the secondary blip went down, from seven, it went down to three. After that, the blip moved to the opposite side of Eleonore's direction.

"_Hmm… I'll check it out tomorrow, might need to have Louise look around the perimeter,"_ Bench told himself.

* * *

The morning had arrived and Louise could be seen on top of the walls of the academy. Her eyes scanned the area where Bench had told her, looking for any discrepancies, anything weird. She was about to give up when she noticed something different about the elevation of a certain part of the floor. Her eyes enhanced a particular area and that's when she noticed it.

There was a slight indent in the floor, not big enough to be obvious but it was there. Her vision further enhanced giving a grid structure of the entire floor. With the grid structural vision that she has, she could see how the dent is not in line with one of the grid boxes.

"_Someone did come in… best report it to Bench or Colbert," _She thought.

"Louise!" A voice called out.

Stopping her thoughts, she looked at the source of the voice. From below the wall, she could see Kirche and the person that stuck with her for most of the time – Tabitha, if she remembered. She was a foot or two shorter than the Germanian. Having bright blue hair with red under-rimmed glasses, the uniform that the school provided was looked a little loose due to her lithe figure. On her left hand, she held a wooden staff that looked more like a long club but with a gem at the top, on the other, a book.

The pink-haired cyborg, looked through the back confines of her mind, looking for any memorable memories about the blue-haired girl. While she couldn't remember a lot about her, what she did know was that she was pretty adept, or even skilful, with wind magic. Speaking of the person in mind, Tabitha had forgone reading the book and opted to look at Louise with slight interest. Of course, the cyborg didn't care, at this point stares had been a daily thing, adding another pair of eyes on her isn't going to hurt.

Ignoring the pair, she jumped down from the wall. The back of her body shifted into thrusters that started to hum which in turn slowed down her fall. Both girls watched with slight amusement as she landed just a meter behind them. No other words were said as she walked towards the school academy, intending to report to Colbert.

Gazes started to lock onto her, some had curiosity while others were lecherous. Most of the latter were hormonal teenagers who just seemed to admire the slimmer parts of Louise's nanomachine body. She ignored the gazes and continued. Now inside of a long hallway, she had to find the room where Colbert was teaching. As this happened, she sighed with slight irritation at the two blips that were a couple of meters behind her. Aside from that, her advanced hearing could also pick up what those two were talking about.

"What do you think she's doing?" asked Kirche.

"Looking for a person," Tabitha responded.

"Who would that be though?"

This continued question and answer went for a while as Louise walked down the hallway. Eventually, she got tired of it and started ignoring them by muting her ears. Spotting one door she opened it, what greeted her was a classroom of older teens, from the looks of it, they're the seniors of this academy. Curious eyes started to look at her, looking further in the classroom, she spotted a teacher.

While her cheeks were slightly sagging due to age, she was fairly young, probably in her late forties. She sported a witch's hat; her body size was large and she was a little shorter than her. Completely ignoring the fact that she had interrupted the class, she went inside and walked up to the teacher.

"Teacher, do you have any idea where Colbert might be?"

The teacher was a little stumped by the directness of Louise but nevertheless, she answered, "He should be teaching the first years right now,"

Louise nodded, "Which room would that be in?"

"It should be in the Fire Wing,"

Louise gave her thanks and left the classroom. With the directions now given she made her way to the Flame Wing. Tristain Magical Academy had four wings; each wing would be named based on one of the four elements. That doesn't mean that each wing caters to a specific affinity, it was just named that way for easier navigation. After asking a maid she encountered along the way, she finally reached the Flame Wing. Touching the knob of a door down the hallway she held back on opening it.

"Will both of you follow me inside as well?" She remarked with irritation.

Kirche and Tabitha stopped on their tracks although, between both of them, the blue-haired girl acted more mature and just gave her a neutral look. Meanwhile, Kirche looked like a child who was caught stealing the biscuit jar.

"Looks like you've found us," Kirche said.

Louise shook her head, "I already knew both of you were following me, I just want to do anything since I don't want a scene,"

After saying that bit, she opened the door and closed it on their faces.

"Ah, looks like there's nothing we can do now, shall we get go- Tabitha!"

Said girl was already walking away from the door, leaving Kirche chasing after her. Meanwhile, inside the cyborg girl was being stared at similarly to how the third years were doing earlier. Ignoring them, Louise searched the classroom for the man. She found him in front of the blackboard, drawing some steps on how to use advanced fire magic. Hearing footsteps to his right, he looked and spotted Louise. With a raised eyebrow, he placed down his chalk and approached her.

"Louise? What are you doing here?" The professor asked.

"We need to talk, professor. What time are you free?"

The confusion was on his face but nevertheless, he answered, "A-after the fourth bell- ". Louise walked away. "W-what's this all about?"

"It's important, meet me in Headmaster Osmond's office,"

Not another word came out from her mouth as she left the classroom. The class continued as usual but of course, people are now starting to wonder what kind of scheme is Louise up to.

* * *

The fourth bell had already rung, during this time, students are leaving their classrooms to have their hour-long break. While everything looks normal from the outside it was quite different from the inside. Rumours had begun to spread again regarding the two residents that housed the shack near the Earth Wing. Along with the rumours that started to spread included the two Vallieres that were older than Louise. Said pair could be seen walking down the second-floor hallway that led to the headmaster of the academy.

While there were no words exchanged both of them had the same question in their mind:

'Why did the headmaster call them?'

Their questions were about to be answered when they opened the office of the headmaster. Four people could be seen. Sitting on the main desk was the headmaster himself, to his left were both Colbert and Longueville. Finally, in the centre of the office stood Louise. More confusion settled on both elder sisters' faces as they now started to wonder what Louise got involved with. Greetings were exchanged before Louise spoke again.

"Before we begin, I'm going to have to ask Miss Longueville to leave the room," She gave a perplexed look before Louise gave a reason. "Not to offend you or anything but I trust the other four more in this room right now, you, on the other hand, you're an anomaly. So please, leave,"

The tone on her voice begged for no argument, after a glance to the headmaster, she received the permission to leave. Once she was gone, she then looked at the remaining four in the room, "Do any of you know of any sound muffling spells because what I have to say needs to stay in this room,"

"The door of the office is already enchanted with a spell similar to that, Miss Louise," Osmond said. He rested both arms on the table, "May we know what it is that made you call for us?"

With a small sigh, Louise held out her palm revealing a holo-disk. After a quick press, the holo-disk came to life and displayed a radar. "This was what Bench's radar recorded last night, this blip here-" she pointed at the one closest to the centre, "is you, sis," she looked at Eleonore.

A few seconds had passed and everyone watched as Eleonore's blip started to move away. That was when they saw the secondary blip that was a little smaller was spotted to the right of Eleonore. The second blip didn't move in its current position, meanwhile, Eleonore's blip continued to move, this time, her direction was a little more to the left. Once Eleonore had disappeared from the radar, the blip started to move on a straight line before stopping a few meters away from where it was before. The blip expanded then deflated before continuing to go on a straight line. Eventually, also leaving the range of Bench's radar.

"Anyone caught what happened?" Louise asked everybody.

While Eleonore, Cattleya and Osmond thought about the question that was given, it was the soldier that had given an educated guess.

"Someone stalked Madame Eleonore," Colbert said.

Hearing his answer, the other three who couldn't answer looked to Louise. "Allow me to rephrase; someone was _hiding_ from Eleonore,"

"Why would this person be hiding… unless," Colbert's eyes widened he looked at Louise hoping that his suspicions are unnecessary. Unfortunately, what he received was a confirmation for his assumptions.

"Given that this recording was an hour past midnight, we might have a big situation on our hands," she then looked to the headmaster. "Unless this academy doesn't have a curfew and students are allowed to loiter around in the middle of the night… well?"

Old Osmond shook his head, "No, we have a curfew. Before the moons Lune and Hati appear, students are told to go to their designated dorms,"

The frown on Colbert's face slowly turned into a scowl. It didn't take long before Eleonore and Cattleya caught on what the situation is, both looked at each other with worrying glances before looking at Louise, hoping that their worries were also misplaced. Louise gave out a sigh but looked at the people in the room before declaring what she knows.

"Yeah… someone infiltrated the academy,"

* * *

**A/N:**** Well, how about that. Sorry if the pacing of this chapter is slow and if it's too short. I'm currently organising the plot for each chapter, making sure that what I put in this chapter won't force me to continue on writing the next chapter. Tell me your thoughts about this chapter.**

**Now I know that aftermath of Louise telling them her backstory isn't here, there is a reason for that, I won't ignore the fact that Eleonore and Cattleya had just been dumped with a ground shattering fact that Louise lived in a destroyed Earth for 8 years.**

**Recently, I've made a promise to myself that I'm going to write 500 hundred words a day. It's a struggle but what isn't? If this goes smoothly, I'll branch out this plan to my other projects which in turn will increase my productivity in making more chapters.**

**As always, I read all of your reviews and I answer them to the best of my abilities without spoiling the story but if you want to ask more specific questions like what kind of world Louise grew up in. Please, feel free to message me on Discord, I'll be more than happy to answer all of those questions.**

**Discord: Imaginationsburstingout#1950**

**With that being said, time to read your reviews!**

**Tohoufanatic:**** It's not a 'simple' realization to be honest. I mean if a person that you know or love ever told you that they lived in a different world for a long time would it be simple?**

'**People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer'**

**-Andrew Smith**

**At the same time, if a person is open-minded and gave the unknown the benefit of the doubt, they will not fear it if they commit to understanding it. Louise didn't want to outright reveal to them that she lived in another world for 8 years. They can easily reject her statement and claim that she just came from a faraway country/continent that focuses more on technology rather than magic.**

**That's why I built it up. From Louise explaining what a Ravager is, Louise's practical examination when fighting holographic Savages when she first donned the Ravager body, Bench's explanation of the three Sciences, etc.**

**Because let's face it if a person that you know or love walks up to you at this moment and told you that they lived or came from another world. Would you buy it?**

**Lucian Naruto: ****I didn't even know that Eleonore was a teacher in an unknown academy. This could be perfect writing material as I don't want to gloss anything over. Yes, a breakthrough in Halkeginia's Science would be something interesting. Who knows, maybe Eleonore might even be the leading pioneer for discoveries, aside from Colbert.**

**I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter! With all of that said and done, I bid you all adieu!**

**Peace~**


	11. Preparations & Acceptance

**Preparation & Acceptance**

* * *

_The sound of an alarm clock could be heard in the room. There was a muffled moan underneath the blanket, still too tired of yesterday's escapades. Nevertheless, time waits for no man, woman or cyborg, a hand emerged out of the blanket and began its search for the blasted waking device. The hand found what it was searching for and spent no time in slamming the button that stopped the alarm._

_A few more seconds passed before the mound of cloth started its first movement for the day. Sitting up, her vision was blocked by the messy hair that had formed during the night. She willed one the hands on her back to pulled her hair back giving her more vision. She stood up only to hiss in pain when a nasty headache popped out of nowhere. Sitting back down she tried to remember yesterday's events as best as she could._

Knock, knock, knock

"_Alban, are you awake?" a voice called out._

_While the headache was unbearable, she still had the sense to recognize who the person behind the door was. The door opened letting the morning light enter in Alban's dark room. Her irises contracted forcing her to use her real hand to cover the light. Louise walked in the room holding a tray which had a glass of water and a painkiller pill. Setting the tray on her desk, Louise took the glass and the pill and made her way to Alban who was more focused on rubbing her forehead._

"_You drank a lot last night," Louise quipped._

"_I noticed," Alban replied sarcastically._

_Louise handed the glass and pill; Alban took them and downed the medicine. The effects of the painkiller immediately went into effect as the headache slowly ebbed away. After a minute of silence Alban looked up to thank Louise only for her eyes to widen when the pink haired girl leaned in and planted her lips a short kiss. Louise then smiled afterwards and spoke._

"_C'mon, Bench is waiting for you downstairs, also afternoon rush is going to happen soon,"_

_She took a moment to process what Louise did to her before she grinned. Motivated, she left the room ready to tackle the months had passed since both of them started dating. While she was teased by both Bench and their customers, they were pretty supportive of her decision of pursuing Louise, she'd been living in Bans for a year now and while she was already used to the usual antics, a relationship was something that she wasn't sure of._

_She had to admit, getting Louise to like her was like traversing a steep mountain with tons of weights pulling her down. She was about to give up and assume that she was straight, that all changed though when she suddenly gave her a chance. A well spent date later, Alban asked if she could do it again another time. Rinse and repeat and eventually it led to this. Going downstairs, she froze when she noticed the line of patients that were waiting for their turn. She took a deep breath and prepared for today._

"_I'm going to ask Louise for more kisses after this,"_

* * *

If there was one thing that's to be remembered about Tristain it would be its wide-open plains. Miles upon miles would just be plains, it's like a desert but instead of the loose and grainy sand, you'd get dirt and grass. Aside from that, navigation is also easier, while Tristain also has its own treacherous biomes, most of the roads that'd been built were on plains. It is on this wide expanse of flat land; one could see a tent being set up.

While this tent could easily be mistaken as an adventurer's tent if you were to look closer, it had the insignia of Tristain's royalty. Out of the fifty guards that were assigned to protect one of their leaders, ten were posted on the perimeter, scanning the environment for anything that could harm their princess, Henrietta de Tristain.

A sergeant of the guard was looking over the horizon with his monoscope when he noticed a flying creature in the sky. The zoom of the telescope wasn't enough to see what kind of creature it was so he waited. A few seconds passed he could discern what the flying creature was. A dove, wrapped on it's left leg was a sequence of ribbons; red, yellow and blue and clenched on its claws was a small letter.

Recalling the ribbon code, he knew that the dove belonged to an important person. Closing his monoscope he called out to one of his privates and told him to get a stand for the incoming dove. By the time the private came back the dove was already circling the encampment. Seeing a place to rest, it dived down and landed on the arm of the stand with its other free leg.

Taking the letter, the sergeant petted the dove and asked if someone had something to feed the avian while he went to the princess. The tent's setup was already finished, just before the drapes which led inside, two female musketeers stood guard with their swords.

"Message for the princess," he said before showing the small letter on his hand.

"What's the ribbon code?" the musketeer on his left asked.

"Red, yellow, blue,"

It didn't take long for both guards to realize whom the message belonged. The sergeant moved the drapes to see Princess Henrietta talking with the captain of the musketeer squad, Agnès de Milan. Both of them took notice, he kneeled down before offering the letter to the captain. Agnès then gave it to Henrietta who opened it and read the contents.

* * *

_Intruder, potentially Fouquet, caution, Familiar Festival continues_

_O. Osmond_

* * *

A troubled look was now seen on the princess, Agnès got curious and read the message over her shoulder only for her eyebrows to furrow. "Should we go back to the castle, princess?"

Expecting her to say yes, Henrietta shook her head. When she pointed out that the intruder could potentially be Fouquet, she still persisted.

"We have fifty soldiers who have good combat capabilities, three squads of the musketeer brigade and ten mages. If Fouquet decided to attack, we'll be more than prepared to retaliate. Besides, this visit isn't just because of the Familiar Festival… it's personal,"

Agnès held her tongue after that. She knew who Henrietta was talking about; the daughter of the famous Karin the Heavy Wind, Louise de la Valliere. The musketeer captain didn't know how important Louise was to her but judging by how Henrietta's most expressive when Louise's name is mentioned, she'll assume that she's that important. A sigh escaped her lips and relented, she will just have to increase the security around her this time around.

* * *

Louise and Colbert walked down a long and dark hallway. The light from the professor's torch illuminated the way allowing him to see what was in front of him. Both of them were currently in a restricted area of the campus, only staff members were allowed in this particular area. Why? Well it's because it houses some powerful magical artefacts. It was said that during the construction of the academy, the first headmaster had built a large storage for items that are considered powerful or dangerous.

Three layers of concrete blocks were used to protect it from outsiders and the only way to enter it was through a wooden double door which was made of the strongest oak wood. To further enforce this room, it was enchanted with a star-class protection spell to protect it from any physical or elemental damage. In short, its protection is more valuable than the castle which housed the royal Tristain family.

Louise stopped and stood in the middle of the hallway, she extended both of her arms and willed her nanomachines to lodge themselves in the concrete blocks' gaps. She repeated this process over and over again until the professor finally gave into his curiosity.

"May I ask, what are you doing, Louise?"

"I'm making an alarm,"

"Spreading your arms like your stretching isn't really 'making an alarm'," he quipped.

Louise sighed, "I'm setting up some motion detectors,"

She then opened her palm and shaped a ball before throwing it on the ceiling. Afterwards, she brought up her arm and formed a monitor. It didn't take long before the monitor showed live video feed of both her and Colbert.

"A-amazing!" Louise jumped back when she noticed Colbert was just behind her shoulder, "How did you do that?"

"The ball that I threw up there," she pointed. "Is a camer-… um… a device that's connected to me. It has an 'eye' which I can use to view who's in this particular hallway using this monitor,"

"It's hard to believe that this isn't magic," Colbert muttered.

She scoffed, "Of course it isn't magic, it's nano-tech. It's much more superior than magic… no offense,". Feeling tested, Colbert frowned. Louise took notice of this before looking at him, "Well… do you know of any magic that can do this?"

"None… but I am sure that there are familiars that can do the same,"

Louise raised her brow, "I am asking of magic. I acknowledge that there are familiars who are capable of doing this,"

"The Founder, he's capable of seeing from vast distances using his magic!"

"And that magic is?" she drew out.

Colbert felt hesitant but he answered her, "V-Void… void magic,"

"You mean the so-called 'lost' or 'holy' magic?" Colbert nodded then Louise shrugged, "So basically, there's no magic that can do it,"

There was lull in the conversation as Louise continued to place multiple motion detectors and three more cameras. With the preparations done, both teacher and student left the place and made it back to the headmaster's office. Walking down on the hallway that led to the office, Colbert suddenly remembered something.

"Louise, we need to talk about your education,"

There it was, honestly Louise was hoping to avoid having a conversation regarding her school life. She had already given up on trying to cast magic even after combining it with the technology of Earth. It just wasn't worth it, why try looking for something that wasn't even there in the first place? So, she dropped it. The weight that her small shoulders carried was gone, she looked for a new passion to invest on; technology.

While not the best one out there, she had to admit that some of the things that she had created helped her unit when battling with the enemies of Bans. Aside from that, not a lot of people are actually close with one of the members of The Council. Now it was coming back in full circle, the magic that she had long abandoned came rearing its ugly head, asking her to find it again. She looked at Colbert with a resolved look on her face.

"There's nothing to talk about, professor. I've given up on magic a long time ago,"

Colbert was shocked, the once persistent Louise, given up on pursuing magic? "I-In replace of… that?" he pointed at her body.

Louise nodded, "technology had brought in more yield than all the time I've tried casting a simple silencing spell,"

Not another word was uttered after that as the door to the office was opened. Old Osmond could be seen writing down something on a piece of parchment. Meanwhile, Longueville sat adjacent on her own table managing the academy's fees. The headmaster stopped what he was doing and looked up to both teacher and student.

"Ah, you're back, I trust that you've completed what I've asked both of you to do?" He asked.

"Of course, Headmaster Osmond,"

"Uh-huh,"

Colbert and Louise replied respectively. "Good, with that problem settled, we can now proceed with the preparations for the Familiar Festival which will happen in three days' time,"

Louise nodded and was about to leave and let them prepare only to notice the almost sad look that Colbert's giving her. She stopped just at the door, turned around and met the Headmaster's eyes. There was a short silence as Louise contemplated on what she was going to do. Old Osmond tilted his head sideways, showing Louise that he was waiting for her to say something. He was about to ask the question out loud when Louise jumped in on the silence first.

"Headmaster Osmond, can I ask you to expel me from your academy?"

"Louise why wou-!"

Colbert's sudden question was cut short when the headmaster lifted his hand, telling the ex-soldier to stop. Osmond looked at her with his experienced eyes. Gone was the mischievous gaze that he would always give his secretary. Even said secretary herself was kind of shocked at the sudden change of atmosphere. Osmond crossed his hands before answering Louise.

"I cannot do that… to be expelled from this academy you would need to do something that is worthy of expulsion,"

Louise sighed before she looked at Colbert, "Professor, can I ask you to come closer?"

Colbert raised an eyebrow but complied nonetheless. Louise suddenly brought up her arm and hit his shoulder. Of course, she minimised the impact as much as possible but judging from his body structure – which she took note of while they were together – it would bruise but he can handle that much.

"Ah!" Colbert rubbed his shoulder then glared at Louise, "What was that for!?"

"There, now can you expel me?" Louise looked back at Old Osmond.

There was another long silence as both Louise and Osmond stared at each other down. This silence was then broken when latter started to chuckle. Both professor and secretary looked at him as if he'd gone senile. His laughing finally ceased and he looked at Louise with an amused face.

"Miss Longueville, please hand me the expulsion papers,"

The secretary had an astonished look but complied. Handing him the paper he started writing down Louise's expulsion. Once done, he took a stamp and marked it followed by his signature. He handed the papers to Louise, who looked down and read paper's contents.

* * *

_This document is an official expulsion of the student, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. __Reason for expulsion, being violent with the academy's staff members._

_O. Osmond_

* * *

"I hope you understand the consequences of your actions, Miss Vallière," The headmaster pointed out.

Louise gave curt nod before leaving the room. Silence overtook the entire office as both the flame mage and secretary looked baffled at what just happened right in front of them. A solid five seconds passed before Colbert finally processed what happened.

"Why did you do that, headmaster?!" Colbert said, clearly agitated by his actions.

"There was nothing that I could've said that would change her mind, Professor Colbert. I could see it in her eyes, she already has a purpose. Whether that purpose will affect her or not, is not up to me now," Old Osmond then looked at Colbert and grinned underneath his beard. "Besides, she's already an adult, she can make her own decisions,"

Osmond gave a bearded smile before focusing back on doing some more paperwork. Silence reigned over the room once again as both Longueville and Colbert slowly came to terms with the fact that Louise was expelled from the academy for 'assaulting' a teacher.

* * *

**A/N:**** I need to be frank about something. Most of the fanfictions that I've read out that have a situation like this completely forget the fact that they are still students and they still need to learn. Heck, I think even the anime adaptation also does this by completely ditching Louise's school life and opting out for more fan service when it can be used to develop her character more.**

**I understand it though, in a world full of magic. Why waste an entire episode of a character learning magic when they could just be explained in the midst of a battle or have a knowledgeable side character explain it to the audience? Also... Alban x Louise :D.**

**On another note, I'll be making some changes on how I write. First and foremost, I am taking off my training wheels and get rid of Grammarly. As my English improves, Grammarly is becoming more of a nuisance than a help, I'm still not good but I believe I've improved since I started to develop writing stories as my hobby. With that said, I urge all of my readers to not only enjoy my material but also to scrutinize my work. Every nook and cranny of the story please criticize them. Don't hold back but at the same time don't be too overbearing, thank you!**

**Secondly, I'll be posting a new chapter every week but at the cost of word count. Sorry to say this but, 4,000-word chapters might only come once in a blue moon. My schedule involves writing 500 words a day, post it, take a break for a day, rinse and repeat. If my situation changes I'll make sure to inform you.**

**With that being said, time to read the reviews!**

**Lucian Naruto:**** The year gap between Halkeginia and my version of Earth is bigger, a 3,000-year gap. While I don't know much about Brimir's backstory, I will say that religions will always begin because of overzealousness. Also, yes, the Church of Brimir will become a problem for Louise since what she could potentially do could disturb their foundation and the beliefs of their followers and patrons but that will happen much later into the future.**

**With all that said and done I bid you all adieu!**

**Peace~**


	12. The Familiar Festival

**The Familiar Festival**

* * *

"_We're finally done!"_

_Alban raised both of her hands in exasperation. The long line of patients requesting for repairs was finally gone. Night had already fallen but that didn't mean the Bans was going to rest. Tonight, was special, Alban looked to the side of the patient's seat to see a digital clock that was displaying both time and date._

23:13

12/31/3542

_Time was of the essence now; Louise was going to celebrate her first New Year in Bans and Alban was going to hate herself if even once the pink haired girl didn't enjoy it. She made a mad dash towards her room, once inside she started taking off all of her back arms and started replacing them with new ones that Louise had made for her when celebrating their seven-month long relationship._

_Early relationships can be weird_

_The arms in question were made of a strong alloy that put the armour plating on railgun tanks shy in comparison, aside from that, she was also quite surprised at the level of flexibility the arms offer, which tells a lot since her previous arms were more robotic in terms of accessibility. The arms that Louise made was more human like, the time it takes for Alban to command her old arms usually has a 0.05 reaction time. The arms that Louise made had a reaction time of 0.017._

'_Seriously, how can she make something like a pair of glasses a few months ago to things like these… maybe she's just that good," Alban thought to herself._

_Once she was done attaching all 4 pairs of arms, she looked at her mirror and checked herself out. The arms were painted with a chrome colour and an insignia of weird symbols at the back of each hand. From the looks of it, the insignia reminds her of something like those weird hieroglyphs she read up on a long time ago._

_She then started to pick what clothes to wear, she had to look good in front of her girlfriend lest she would embarrass herself right in front of her. She only has a handful of clothes._

_It shouldn't take long_

* * *

_Louise giggled as she looked at Alban; a depressed aura surrounded her multi-armed girlfriend. It was already 23:43, Louise wore a white long dress while Alban wore the same shirt and pants that she wore on their first date._

"_Cheer up, Alban, New Year's coming soon and I want you to be happy when it arrives," Louise said while gracing her with a smile._

"_B-but I had this whole plan… it was flawless, you were going to love i- mpbh"_

_Before Alban could finish, Louise placed her hands on her cheeks and squished them. She gave her a look which Alban interpreted as disappointment._

"_I don't need anything grand, Alban, I only need you,"_

"_Louishe," Alban said though squished cheeks._

_Louise removed her hand and now crossed it, a small blush on her face, "W-with that being said, I still expect you to entertain me… understood?"_

_Alban stood still for a second before gracing Louise with a salute, "I promise you that I will show you the best night of your life!"_

* * *

Familiar Festival

An event that's celebrated in Tristain's Magical Academy, it is a time for enjoyment to loiter around the entire campus with lesser restrictions. The academy itself boasts other events other than the Familiar Festival but for the second years, this festival is special to them.

Second years have practiced hard and long for the last two weeks. Perfecting tricks that their summoned familiars could do. From flight acrobatics, musical numbers and show of strength. It is a time for them to present and show off how wonderful their summoned companion is right in front, not only from the student body but also in front of royalty. The winner of this competition will receive a reward from Princess Henrietta herself! It is with this motivation; students strive hard to attract the biggest attention.

One of the particular contestants Kirche, could be seen standing on the eastern courtyard of the campus. Other students could also be seen in the same area, all practicing their tricks and presentations. That being said, the people on the courtyard weren't the only contestants, the courtyard was only a means for students with bigger familiars to train them. Others who have smaller familiars like dogs, cats, frogs, owls and the like were also training in their own rooms.

"One more time, Flame!"

Kirche pointed out her wand with a display of bravado, her familiar, a flame salamander, opened its mouth and breathed out a gout of flame. Unlike any normal flame, this one was different. Instead of spreading out in a wide cone this was made with extreme precision. A thin line of flame that spiralled emerged out of the salamander's mouth. Kirche then pulled a ceramic disk out of her bag, which contained more of the same item. She threw the disk in the air and Flame quickly took over. It used its head to guide the line of fire and use it a whip. Flame then snapped its head to the right making the fire rope hit the disk in the air.

"Let's try two this time!"

Without any pause, Kirche took out two ceramic disks and threw and in the air at the same time. Flame shattered the first one with an upwards flick of its head, it then snapped its head downwards breaking the second disk. Once both disks were gone, the flame salamander was going to take a sit and rest when it saw three disks that just emerged from its peripheral vision. It quickly snapped its head horizontally making hitting all of the disk in succession.

Kirche herself was slightly shocked, she realised what happened and rushed towards her beloved familiar and hugged it tight, fed it compliments while planting kisses on its nose the whole time.

Some ways away from Kirche, behind the door which led to the Wind Wing, a figure stood, his fists were clenched white from anger, silver white hair dishevelled, a sign of stress due to the mockery that she had turned him out to be. His eyes glowered at the sight of the red-haired girl and then to her precious familiar, a mischievous plan forming in his head.

"Kirche," he hissed to himself.

* * *

"The academy is within sight princess," the coachman said.

Princess Henrietta was looking through the window of the carriage. While she could see a part of the academy most of it was blocked due to her private bodyguards. One thing that her bodyguards couldn't block was the large hole that she recognized when she first came to the academy. Then she was reminded of Louise's condition when she visited. Worry now etched her face and this was noticed by the other person that's with her in the carriage.

"Something wrong, princess?" Agnès asked.

Princess Henrietta inwardly scolded for revealing a vulnerable side of her. She looked at the captain of the musketeer brigade with her practiced smile, that alone was enough to reassure the captain that whatever she was worrying about isn't life threatening. Even though it wasn't threatening her safety, it made her curious. Captain as she might be though, she isn't really permitted to ask about her personal life.

"You want to ask me something, Captain Agnès?" Princess Henrietta asked, noticing her curiosity.

Agnès was now alarmed, she cursed herself for making her curiosity obvious. She was about to apologise to Henrietta to but was cut off when she offered her a free question.

"You can ask, captain, I am not so high up that I will deny you your curiosity," Henrietta she smiled at her, reassuring her that she wasn't being rude.

Captain Agnès chose her question wisely and she chose the most recent that she thinks is plaguing the princess' mind. "What's so special about Karin the Heavy Wind's daughter?"

Princess Henrietta's was slightly amused at the question. She thought that the captain was going to ask her about her position or something along those lines. To ask a question that's personal to her… she felt a little divided.

"Y-you don't have to answer that question, princess," Agnès immediately said upon seeing her turmoil.

Princess Henrietta shook her head and decided to answer anyways. She had known Agnès ever since she joined up. Out of all of the knights that had the talent to become a good soldier, she was the one that had risen about all adversaries. Rising to the rank of captain in the span of a single year, she was one of those younger generations that were just good at what they did. What she doesn't know is her harrowing past, seeing how her features would darken every time her personal life is asked, Henrietta decided to hold back on it.

In the end she decided to open up to her captain. With a sigh, she felt some weight on her shoulders disappear. "Louise was my childhood friend. Back when I was still a naïve child, my mother and her mother would meet up to talk about matters regarding the kingdom. Me on the other hand, I'm stuck loitering around the castle, finding something to do to sate by boredom. That's when I saw her, sitting on a chair just beside the door that led to my mother's quarters,"

"I invited her to come and walk with me and she accepted. I think at the time, she didn't know I was the princess," Henrietta then giggled at the thought. While Agnès laughed awkwardly having trouble relating to her. "Eventually, both of us found ourselves in the castle garden and started playing there. At the end of the day, Madame Karin mother scolded Louise for not staying in seat and apologised profusely at my mother. My mother on the other hand, thought differently and told Madame Karin that she wasn't being a bother and even issued another day when both me and Louise would meet up!"

Henrietta sighed, a small smile on her lips as she remembered everything that they did back then. "Enough with these stories, we've arrived, captain,"

"Eh?"

Agnès looked outside of the carriage to see a large crowd of students, all applauding. She shook herself ready, grabbed the knob and opened the carriage door. Once she was out, she then offered her hand. Henrietta took the offered hand and with practiced ease, stepped out of the carriage. Her picture-perfect smile adorning her face, making some of the younger male students look bashful beside of their significant other.

She greeted the crowd with a bow that she had performed over and over again when having diplomatic discussions. Despite the action monotonous to her, the students in the academy find it fascinating and decided to applaud louder. Raising her head, she took a moment to scan the crowd, those who met her eye looked away in embarrassment. Her face was now worried when she couldn't see her childhood friend amongst the crowd. She then remembered where she last saw her and decided that later on, she would pay a visit. Moving along, she made her way towards the line of professors who were waiting at the entrance of the academy. All the professors bowed at her presence. The headmaster then stepped up and spoke.

"It is pleasure to meet you, Princess Henrietta," Old Osmond said.

Henrietta gave her a smile, "the pleasure's all mine, Headmaster,"

"You must be tired from your trip, come, we've prepared your quarters. While it's not a glamorous as the one you have in the castle, I hope it would suffice,"

The princess giggled, "I'm fine with anything as long as I can rest my body,"

Both headmaster, princess and captain were now walking down the hallway. The crowd that stood outside had long dispersed and were now even more motivated to step up their performance, now with the princess of Tristain watching them.

The pressure was on

* * *

Eleonore sighed heavily as she stared at the same paper for the nth time. This piece of paper, which has brought a sudden tiredness to the eldest sister was none other than Louise's expulsion paper. She wondered for a long time, what to say to her little sister. The paper apparently told her that she was expelled for assaulting a staff member, presumably a professor.

Of course, Eleonore took it up with the headmaster and asked him why was she removed to which he responded with:

"_She has made her decision, Madame Eleonore. Just like I said to Professor Colbert, there was nothing that I could've said or done that would've changed her mind,"_

From the looks of it, Louise had planned her expulsion. No, she intended to expel herself for reasons still unknown to her. Which is why she is making her way towards the warehouse, questions ready to be fired. Halfway to the warehouse she took a note of her surroundings. Standing in the middle of the field, she could spot around ten guards standing on their posts. One thing that she did notice were the insignia embedded on their armour; the royal insignia. It didn't take long for Eleonore to realize who was present at the school at this moment but at the moment, Princess Henrietta wasn't her concern. What concerns her right now would be her little sister.

She finally reached the warehouse; she opened the door and spoke up only to cut herself immediately. There, standing beside Louise, talking as if they were friends who hadn't met in a while, was Henrietta de Tristain. Not far from the princess was Captain Agnès if the musketeer brigade.

As if on cue, all three heads turned towards the door to see a stunned Eleonore. This jogged up the eldest sister, second nature came in to play and she immediately gave curt bow to the princess.

"P-Princess Henrietta! I-I didn't know you were here!" she said with her head down.

Henrietta smiled, "Raise your head, Madame Eleonore. I've only come here to talk with my childhood friend, Louise. You don't need to be so strict with yourself when it's just us four all alone,"

"Count me as the fifth one!" Bench called out from the back of the warehouse.

Agnès frowned at Bench's sudden quip but didn't say anything. Eleonore raised her head and made her way towards Louise and Henrietta. Seeing how every step she took was with purpose, both girls wondered why she was looking at Louise as if she wanted to ask a question. Louise observed her body language but before she could fully understand she noticed a familiar piece of rolled up paper on her hand. Louise sighed. She supposed it was better to get it over it now than later.

"Louise, may I ask what this is?" Eleonore asked, though from the tone of her voice it was more like she demanded an answer.

Louise gave her a nonchalant look. "It's my expulsion paper,"

It was then here that Henrietta gave Louise a surprised look, "You're expelled from the academy?"

Before the bombardment of questions arrived, Louise took the initiative to explain to them her reason. "I didn't get expelled because I did something wrong. I _wanted _to get expelled," Louise then looked at Eleonore with determined eyes. "I've given up on magic, what I have going on right now is much better: technology,"

She then opened her palm and used the nanomachines to forge a longsword, then a crossbow. She then brought up her right hand and formed a shield whilst her left formed a short sword. She did this for a few more seconds, showing them the flexibility that the nanomachines that make up her body do. When she was finished, she looked at both Henrietta and Eleonore with resolved eyes.

"Sister Eleonore… please understand,"

There was a pause. Eleonore waited for her answer but it didn't come. Instead Louise was looking past her, eyes narrowed as if she was trying to do something with precision. Of course, these things went over Eleonore and with an impatient tone she spoke.

"Understand what, Louise?"

"Shh… do you guys hear that?" She whispered.

The entire warehouse was now silent listening for something that Louise picked up but not the rest. There it was. A trill. A soft and weak trill. They traced the sound all the way to the front door. Louise took point with Eleonore just behind. Meanwhile Agnès stood in front of Henrietta as the all looked as to who was in front of the warehouse. The door opened.

Louise looked around to see that there was no one in sight, just the occasional guard on the walls but aside from that, no one. Just when she was going to close the door, she heard the trill coming from below. She looked down to see a creature.

Red scales that came from a reptile, the tip of its tail ended with a small flame. Its mouth was wide and eyes were almost side by side. It would've been an adorable creature to cuddle with since it radiates warmth. Wounds both light and heavy marked its body yet despite its body begging to stop and rest, it persevered and made its way towards this warehouse. Louise instantly recognises this creature.

"You're Kirche's familiar,"

Henrietta pushed pass her captain and gave a shocked look. She immediately made her way towards the wounded familiar and used her water magic to begin the healing. All the while, the people present thought the same thing.

What happened to it?

* * *

**A/N:**** Uh oh looks like Flame is severely wounded. And nobody knows why. As always tell me your thoughts about today's chapter. Constructive criticism is always welcomed! With that said, time to read your reviews!**

**AnimeA55Kicker:**** Louise isn't a bi, she's a lesbian. While I know nothing about lesbian relationships or any relationships for that matter… I hope that I can portray it to the best of my abilities.**

**Lucian Naruto:**** I wouldn't say that Colbert is a bad person per se. Its just that he's just looks like the type of person to support Louise but at the same time not make it obvious so that he doesn't show favouritism in front of his students.**

**With all of that said and done I hope you all liked today's chapter! I bid you all adieu!**

**Peace~**


	13. Reaping What You Sow

**Reaping What You Sow**

* * *

_Sunlight slowly creeped in Louise's room; its rays of light slowly crawled its way up to the pink haired girl's closed eyes. Opening her eyes, the first thing that she saw was the dimly lit ceiling. She turned her body to the right to see the clock only to see a sleeping Alban. Her sleep muddled mind tried to process the question of why her girlfriend was here as fast as it could. Then it clicked._

_Yesterday, she and Alban celebrated New Years, watched the fantastic firework show that was prepared by the Enforcers. Once the show was done, they both kissed under the moonlight, which was romantic in her opinion but she isn't going to admit that to her. After that it was all a blur, they raced back to the repair workshop, went in her room and-_

"_Louise, I know you're already awake! Get over here and help me with the coming patients!"_

_Alban mumbled a complaint before shifting her body so that he back faces Louise. This prompted their shared blanket to move away from Louise revealing something that took her a moment to realise. It finally clicked in, her face lit up a bright red and glared at her girlfriend for showing her a night that's surely to be remembered. She jumped off the bed and rushed towards her wardrobe to get a fresh set of clothes._

_Adorning a pink shirt with a design of a lithe man wearing a singlet and pants, standing on a stage as waves of crowds showered him as if he was some kind of god. The words 'Queen' was written at the bottom. Her bottom half was the usual grey pants. She was about to close her wardrobe when she catches a glimpse of something that was black and white._

_It was her old academy uniform, beside it was her wand, the same one that brought her so much suffering during her time as a student. That's when it clicked in her mind, she's been gone for a long already, if by some crazy miracle that she ever returns to the academy, would she be accepted as she is right now? Her family had probably given up on searching her and opted for believing a bitter sweet lie that she'd died somewhere in the forest after running away from her failure._

_After all, she did pack her belongings the day before the Familiar Summoning. She told her past self that if she were to fail this exam, she wasn't going to face any of her peers and family. She decided that she was going to keep what remained of her little dignity by running away than becoming some housewife to her fiancé, Jean-Jacques Wardes. Usually the mention of that name would bring her stomach butterflies but now… she felt weird. He was a man who doubled her current age. Having a relationship with Alban felt more comfortable than with him._

"_If you're not out in three seconds I'm going to play the recording of what both of you did last night!" Bench yelled._

"_Eh?"_

"_Three,"_

_Louise's mind caught up, he was recording what Alban and here were doing last night!? Forget about the fact the Bench recorded them, there were patients waiting downstairs and they were going to hear this recording. Louise mad a mad dash towards her door_

"_Two,"_

_She inputted the code for her door locks as quickly as she could._

"_One,"_

_The sound of the locks unhinging felt like an eternity, her face red with both anger and embarrassment that was soon to come. Seeing the smallest of gap from the sliding door she tried to slip in between. Alas, try as she might, she was just a little late._

"_Ahhn… L-Louise… I… I-I'm going to c-"_

"_SHUT UP!"_

_As soon as the she was given the chance, she jumped at Bench was just standing right in front of the door. Louise's body collided with the pod-bot. Louise's door was facing the stairs that led down so it was with no surprise that after they collide with each other both her and Bench tumbled down the stairs._

"_Ow," Louise drawn out._

"_Good morning to you too, Louise," Bench said as if rolling down a set of stairs was an everyday occurrence._

"…_Fuck …you…, Bench"_

* * *

He was tired

He was weak

His body was yelling at him to just give up.

Despite all of these detriments, he persevered. He needed to save his master, that man with white hair was going to do something wrong to her but with his current self? No. He needed someone who was strong, someone powerful. Wasn't there someone that her master has been obsessing for a while now? Yes, that woman… the woman with black clothing. Perhaps she could save her. He didn't have much time. Every second spent thinking about what horrendous things that man was going to do to her master, the more those thoughts will become reality.

He gave out a weak trill. Hoping against hope that someone with be close by to hear him. His ringing ears caught the sound of a door opening. He saw a woman with blonde hair and looked similar to the woman he needed. Perhaps they're related? He trilled again but sadly; his voice wasn't heard. The blonde woman continued walking and made her way towards a familiar warehouse that was a couple of meters in front of him.

It was that woman's house! All he needed to do was make his way to the warehouse, ask for help and finally save her master! Task easier said than done when your entire body is battered, bruised and bleeding. Now was not the time to give up. He has to reach that warehouse and cry for help. With all of his remaining strength, Flame limped his way towards Louise's warehouse.

* * *

"Is it going to be alright?" asked Louise.

"He, Louise, it's a he," Henrietta corrected. "Yes, he'll be fine… who could do such a thing though?"

Louise looked at Eleonore, "Is it our thief?"

Eleonore shook her head, "No… from the recording that you've shown us two days back, the thief went down while they were still on a wall… the wall is made of limestone. While highly resistant to magic, it can still be manipulated. No, these wounds were caused by a wind mage,"

The resident cyborg tilted her head in question. Eleonore rolled her eyes and started to point out how the wounds were sliced cleanly.

"But then how did he get these bruises?"

"I don't know…," Eleonore looked closer, "It looks like he was hit with something very hard… or he fell in a high place,"

Louise placed a hand under chin and thought. "Are familiars allowed to fight in the academy?"

Eleonore shook her head. "Familiars are not allowed to fight since they were an extension of their master. Fighting would bring a bad image to the master hence why it is not permitted but that doesn't mean that this is strictly enforced. During my time here, there were plenty of familiars who were extremely territorial and are aggressive when provoked. Perhaps this familiar may have angered another familiar?"

Henrietta nodded as she was almost done with healing the wounded Flame. "That is true but from what I've seen while I was making my way here, most of the familiars that were summoned were more docile with the exception being the blue dragon that I saw,"

"I've seen that dragon and I can confirm that it is surprisingly docile. Hell, it was friends with him," Louise gestured to the fire salamander.

So that leaves the people inside the warehouse one last choice. Flame fell from a high place, if it were a trick that's supposed to be used for the festival then they can assume that is must've gone wrong and Kirche should be on her way to retrieve him. Unfortunately, after an entire five minutes of waiting, Kirche never showed up which brought up some more questions.

* * *

He came to with a start. Where was he? From the looks of it, he was inside of a wooden house. How did he get here? This was no time to worry, his master is still in trouble and he's sitting here wondering how he got here. It stood up finally realising that his body didn't ache anymore. He checked himself out. No cuts or bruises!

"I'm going back to my room… also Louise, we're not done talking,"

"Ugh… fine, we'll talk in your room,"

Voices?

He crawled his way around a corner and what he saw elated him. There, standing just a few meters away from him was the woman that he needed to help him! He didn't have much time. With a worried look on his face he gave out a distressed trill gaining all of their attention. Once their attention was on him, he made a mad dash towards the exit.

"Wait little one, you're still hu-!" the voice of Henrietta became lower and lower as he ran farther and farther.

He had to make sure that they were following him. He looked behind him and to his luck, all of them were standing outside of the warehouse. They all looked perplexed and the one who healed him was giving him a worried gaze. He gave out a loud trill and spun around from his spot. That should be enough indication. He started to crawl up to the closed door that led to the girl's dorm and started scratching on the door. He continued to scrape the door while making some sad trilling sounds.

He heard footsteps behind him. Heavy footsteps. He looked up to see a black hand twisting the door knob and opening it. He was elated, he then proceeded to bite the woman on her leg. Thinking that he was going to bite flesh, he winced when he clamped down and felt metal. Forget about how this woman has metal leg. He tugged and tugged telling her to follow him.

"Do you want me to follow you, boy?"

Flame removed his jaws and nodded profusely at her question. Seeing Flame's reaction, the woman was a little shocked but that shock turned to curiosity as she told him to lead the way. Behind her, the remaining three women trailed behind.

'_Hold on master, I'm going to save you!'_

* * *

Kirche's heartbeat was rising as she was backed into a corner. In front of her, three teenagers she recognizes grinned with malicious intent, with a hint of uncontrolled lust. This all happened when she invited the person she's currently with, Stix, in her room. Unknown to her at the time, both Vestro and another boy she barely remembered managed to sneak in the girls' dormitory, lock pick her door and prepared for this surprise visit.

"I did warn you Kirche, I told you that you will regret this," Vestro said with a dark smirk.

Had this been like any other day, she would've thrown all of them away using her in depth knowledge of flame magic. Sadly, it wasn't one of those days, just as she entered the room, both Vestro and the other boy jumped at her with Vestro taking her wand and the boy taking Flame. Her familiar fought valiantly but it wasn't meant to be as Vestro casted multiple wind spells that severely wounded her. She begged him to stop told him that she would do anything just to not hurt her familiar. Upon hearing that, Vestro stopped.

"T-Take off your clothes," he said.

Begrudgingly, she did. Her cheeks heated up; embarrassment clear in her eyes but she didn't want them to give them the satisfaction of her looking weak. She glared at them in defiance. This seemed to tick Vestro and as a last straw.

"Marion, throw her familiar out the window,"

"NO!"

She slept in the fourth floor of the dorms. A fall from that height could prove fatal even for someone with hard scales. Nevertheless, she watched with horror as her beloved salamander was thrown away like a piece of rotten pastry out of her window. She tried to reach out and save him but she was pushed down by Stix. Tears now flowing freely as Vestro looked down at her with sadistic glee. She had a thousand-yard stare at the window, still trying to process the fact that Flame, her beloved familiar, was gone.

"Just to say this, Kirche, this was all your fault,"

Her fault? How can it be her fault? She hadn't done anything to wrong these boys.

"You just _had_ to embarrass me in front of everyone. Slandering my name! Telling lies about how none of my stories were true! To top it off, come next day and I see you already attempting to enter Stix's pants!"

What's wrong with flirting? It's the best way to give out lo-

"And now… you're going to see what happens when you cross with me,"

The boy she couldn't recognize jumped at her, she tried to scream for help but all that came out was a muffled shriek. Confusion and fear overcame her as a piece of cloth was placed in her mouth. The tried fighting back but it seems like the boy she didn't recognize was far stronger than her. She then felt hand touch her knees. Out of pure instinct, she closed the gap of her knees but the hands gave prevented that from happening and thus her legs were fully spread as she revealed herself to all the three boys.

She wanted to die. Death was a far more enticing option than this.

She gasped when she felt something rub her womanhood. She didn't want this, she just wanted this to be over. Through her blurred and teary vision, she met Vestro's eyes. Eyes full of lust.

The tip entered and she screamed as hard as she could.

Halfway, it was starting to hurt.

Is she really going to lose her virginity to a rapist?

_CRASH_

"KIRCHE!"

* * *

She didn't know what to say. Of course, the sight of her past self's enemy being raped in front of her was something that she would not wish upon her worst enemy, what's worse is the fact that Henrietta watched with her own two eyes what was happening. As soon as her eyes locked on to the kid with the white hair, her core glowed a deep red. Rage flooded her eyes as time slowed to a crawl.

Each footstep she created spiderwebs in the concrete floor. Once she was within arms-reach she grabbed the scruff of the first boy's uniform and threw him at the wall. He fell down in an unconscious heap. The next boy, had more time to react and was pulling out his wand. That won't do, she immediately backhanded him. Highly dense nanomachines collided with his head, knocking him out in an instant.

Finally, the last boy who had just gotten off of Kirche fired off a wind spell which hit her square in the chest. Due to the fact that she weighed 3.43 tonnes meant that she didn't even budge at the attack. Vestro gave Louise a shocked look and started casting a new spell only for him to shut up when a Louise's hand extended and grabbed him by the throat.

She didn't hear anything. All that mattered is that this rapist deserves to _die_. She felt someone grab on to her shoulder but she didn't pay attention. Her grip became tighter and tighter. His struggling became more and more apparent. She felt someone grab on to her choking hand but she didn't care. This bastard has to pay.

His struggling started to weaken fear still driven in his eyes as he gazes at her blood red irises.

_Snap_

The room was silent. Vestro's neck was tilted in an impossible angle. Her grip loosened and the boy fell down like a sack of potatoes. Senses finally returned as she looked at the room. Shocked faces were everywhere. Even from the entrance, she could see Henrietta and Eleonore cover their mouth in shock. Agnès on the other hand, was standing in between her and the princess, a loaded flintlock aimed at her head.

She looked to her right to see Kirche looking at her with a new sense of horror. Why were they cautious of her? The boy that almost raped the Kirche was dead. She killed him so that it would stop.

She killed him

_Killed_

Realization finally dawned on her as she immediately covered her mouth. She looked for an exit and found it in the form of an open window. Her back shifted into thrusters and without any other words said, she flew away.

She understood now.

She finally understood why they were all looking at her like she was some kind of maniac.

That's because she is one

The wide smile that reached both of her ears were proof of that.

* * *

**A/N:**** Well, looks like I finished this ahead of schedule. Before all of you go ham on me for making a dark chapter today allow me to explain the reason why.**

**First off, let's talk about Kirche. We all know her as a flirty woman based off of the anime. She wanted nothing more than to enter the pants of every boy in the school. It was from here, we all portrayed her as a 'slut'. My opinion about her changed though when a reader talked to me about Kirche and her reason for being flirty. She was born in Germania, she had a mother, father and a lot of brothers and sister. These brothers and sisters of hers are not even related by blood. So of course, you could already see how the parents will show favouritism.**

**Kirche received the short end and didn't receive much love from her parents, hence she didn't really understand the concept of 'love'. Another thing that the reader pointed out to me, since Kirche was naturally good looking, that was used to gain favour to a man that's triple her age. She was engaged, to a man that she didn't know. In short, she was just a pawn.**

**She didn't like this and decided to run away. Skip a few months, probably years and she found herself at Tristain Magical Academy. This time though, she used her good looks to woo the boys there. All of that attention was now at her, this is her first time receiving this kind of attention so of course, she wanted more of it. This was her only understanding of love. She had confused lust with love.**

**Now how does this tie in with the current chapter? We also know that Kirche loses interest to boys if there is a more interesting, more good-looking boy, Saito being an example. Not all rejected boys will accept rejection easily, Vestro was a testament to that. Nobles are too uptight and too high up on their horse to accept such a level of embarrassment. Eventually, one of the boys she dumps will snap and will be forced to do something extreme.**

**Finally, Louise's mental condition. I'm just going to keep it short. She lived in a place that's eat or be eaten for 8 years. A world where danger is almost always around the corner, surely days will go by slower. She's bound to lose some sanity due to the atrocities that she's forced to commit.**

**Also, I did hint that she was a mentally unstable when Guiche challenged her to a duel.**

**With that being said and done, time to read the reviews!**

**Lucian Naruto:**** Thank you! Honestly, in the anime, Eleonore is one of the unexplored characters. It wasn't really explained too much in depth as to why she was so harsh to Louise. What I'm doing to her is breaking her down and rebuilding her into something more likeable.**

**Guest:**** I am not telling you to sympathize with Eleonore, all I'm saying is that, Eleonore's reason for her personality isn't really explained well in the anime. All I remember was her being harsh to Louise. Hell, I didn't even know that she was a teacher in some unspoken school until Lucian Naruto told the she does! All I am saying is, keep an open mind. The fact that you consider Karin as also a person who caused Louise torment isn't a good sign. She maybe harsh to Louise but that's all she knows.**

**Remember, before she had Eleonore, Cattleya and Louise she was a knight. A highly decorated one at that. She was battle hardened and that's all she knew and that's all she taught. She finds it difficult to say 'I love you' to her children as she was never taught to say that in the military. Know this though, despite the fact that she may appear cold on the outside, she's still a mother at heart. Maternal affection will still take hold when she sees her daughters in trouble.**

**Guest:**** Yes, lesbians. The Church won't agree to this but… who can stop Louise eh?**

**Oh boy! This one's a long one. I hope all of you enjoy this chapter. As always, constructive criticism is accepted even more so now than ever since I'm not using any grammar helping applications. With that being said I bid you all adieu.**

**Peace~**


	14. Mind

**Mind**

* * *

_Louise ducked just at the right time, avoiding the backhand that was meant for her. She distanced herself from her opponent by using her mechanised leg to jump back a good twenty meters. The monster in front of her shifted it's circular like body and shot out a black strand that was beelining towards her._

"_Fuck!"_

_Just when the strand was about to catch her, another cyborg zoomed passed her and cut the strand. Getting the distance, she wanted she used the chip in her brain and told her body to pull out her ion blaster. Her left wrist split and turned into a barrel. Her jetpack flared to life and she launched herself at the monster, firing balls of plasma along the way._

_The red core in its body started to glow which alerted all the other Hunters in the area._

"_Adaptation happening!" one of the cyborgs screamed through the radio._

_Everyone started backing away, some who were too close to the Ravager panicked and tried to back up as fast as they could. The ball like Ravager's surface suddenly had holes and what came out forced the assembled Hunters to back up._

"_Missiles! Evasive actions!"_

_After that, chaos ensued. Trails of both missiles and jetpack scattered the sky. Louise was of no exception as she dodged and weaved around just to make sure that the missiles following her weren't gaining ground. Just when everything was going fine every single Hunter fighting the Ravager heard a deep droning sound that brought fear in their mechanical hearts._

"_Adaptation!"_

_Louise looked down to her lower right and to her horror the Ravager was humming loudly. Then, a large shockwave. _

_Louise blacked out_

_Around her, Hunters screamed in panic as the missiles gained distance and started detonating. Louise blinked her eyes open, she looked down to see the ground closing in at a fast rate. She told the chip in her mind to activate her thrusters but it didn't. She cursed before yelping when a shockwave to her left threw her off course._

_She tried to regain her balance, as she does this, the missiles that were chasing after her were closing in at a fast rate. She regained control only to panic when she noticed that the ground was merely meters away from her. She started smacking her own body yelling at its faults for now working when she needed it._

"_COME ON YOU PIECE OF SHIT! WORK!"_

_300m_

_A ping resounded in her mind, after that her vision was filled with the start-up menu below the start-up menu was a bar that was filling up as fast as it could._

_150m_

_The bar was filled, all of the programmes starting from her weapons system to her thrusters and finally her other services. She could already hear the missiles from behind her._

_50m_

_A message a shown thanking her for using their services. _

_10m_

_She didn't care._

_Her thrusters were put to max. Dried concrete kicked up at the sudden air pressure. Louise quickly zoomed forward, scarping the ground. The missiles were of a different case though as they all collided and exploded on the ground creating a massive shockwave that caught up with Louise. She lost control of her flight and barrelled towards a ruined building. It was in this building where she lost consciousness. As the world slowly faded to black, she heard her radio pick up a new transmission._

"_Hunters, retreat. Red Tails have arrived…"_

* * *

They had seen her.

They had seen her and that broken smile that she always had ever since that fateful day.

She couldn't help herself. The sight of the struggling boy in her hand, the power that coursed through her being at the thought of controlling the boy's life. She had the choice of whether he lived or died. She chose death.

The fact that taking a life had merely became a chore for her still terrified her to this day but she had to learn, they didn't know what she went through. What she had to do to keep herself alive. Snapping that boy's neck wasn't something new to her.

That's where she crossed the line though.

She was too focused on the fact that killing the boy was well deserved that she forgot to realise that she wasn't on Earth anymore. She was in Halkeginia. Rules existed in this world, taking a life has consequences. Back on Earth if you're not within the range of Bans' security, no one will care for what happens to your life except those who _actually _care about you. She had seen the lawless wasteland first hand. She had seen horrors that can make even the strong willed insane. She had seen the depths that people would have to go to just to have another minute to live.

When living on Earth, one has to consider what is more important, the riches you have or your own life. Man has been and will always be greedy, Man will do whatever it takes to get to their destination. So, it is no surprise that she had seen plenty of people fall in to the dilemma of choosing between what they cherish versus their own lives.

The people here are still not exposed to such cruelty. They have not experienced the feeling of losing something just to save themselves and that is where Louise draws the line. Her and Bench's mentality are just too different.

The smile on her face had finally disappeared, what replaced was a massive frown.

"_How am I going to show myself to them?" _she thought.

The wide plains of Tristain surrounded her and the school was just within sight. She leaned her back on the large rock that she had been resting on for a couple of minutes already, still contemplating on what to do once she returns back to the academy. Running away couldn't solve this problem, not when there is still an intruder running amok inside the school grounds.

Perhaps she could just return and act like nothing happened? That will only work for a time, until she starts killing someone else. No, this is something that she has to confront. A soft chuckle escaped her nose. How laughably pathetic, Louise, The Devil, God-killer, Kreutin's demise and other titles that she had received from tribes around the globe, afraid of a little confrontation with her friends and family.

"Well… it was bound to happen sooner or later…" She stood up and rounded the rock only to stand stiff

"Hi… Louise,"

Henrietta stood just in front of her. A couple of meters behind her was a small party of bodyguards, watching ever so vigilantly at any subtle movements that Louise made, flanking both of her sides were four musketeers ready to riddle her with bullets should the princess' life come under threat. Finally, right next to her was the captain Agnès de Milan, right arm removing her cape and showing a sword while her left hand hovered over to her flintlock that was holstered on her left hip.

"Quite an audience you brought with you," Louise quipped.

That did nothing to ease any of her bodyguards, in fact, they were more on edge after that jab. Agnès grabbed her flintlock's handle only for it to be stopped by Henrietta's hand. She gave the princess an incredulous look before receding.

"They're just…" her voice weakened as she tried to explain her reason.

"Cautious?" Louise finished. Henrietta flinched at that. "They have every right to be,"

"Louise… what you did back there was very brave. You saved a student,"

Why was she looking at her like that? It was the kind of look that would give you comfort but at the same time, they feel uncomfortable just being around you. It annoyed her; she'd prefer a sour truth than a bitter sweet lie.

"By killing another – cut the nonsense, Henrietta. I _killed_ someone. Someone who has a father and mother waiting for him back at home, waiting for a letter telling them that he's been doing alright, that his grades aren't going down. Someone who probably hasn't even told his parents of his recent accomplishment! SO, DON'T LOOK AT ME WITH THOSE EYES OF YOURS AND TELL ME THAT WHAT I DID IN THAT ROOM WAS RIGHT!"

Rage flooded her mind and as a result, she unconsciously flared up her core. Lines started to glow a bright pink around her body this action increased the ever-thickening atmosphere until suddenly the sound of a sword being removed by its scabbard was heard. Captain Agnès was glaring down at Louise, sword drawn. This was a prompt as the rest of the knights behind her also drew their swords, horses, ready to charge at a moment's notice.

Louise calmed herself, she took a couple of deep breaths, this helped as the lines on her body started dying down until it only the core in her chest that remained to glow but this time it only glowed a dull pink. Louise looked at Henrietta with a serious face.

"Let's get one thing straight here, princess. I am not denying the fact that I am broken – hell, my mentality has been a clusterfuck for five years already," she chuckled. "If you want to talk to me, _please_ give it to me straight, you do that and I'll do the same,"

No words were exchanged after that as Louise left the area by walking past both her and her bodyguards.

* * *

Night had long fallen; students were fast asleep refilling their energy for tomorrow's festival. It was also on this same night that a loud knocking could be heard in the warehouse. A small groan could be heard as Louise stood up from her makeshift bed of haystack. Bench sat on the corner no lights emitting from him as a sign that he's currently off and not about to answer the door. The knocking continued making Louise sigh in irritation. Walking up to the door she opened it and who greeted her brought a surprise.

"Kirche?"

Kirche stood in front of her, left hand on her right arm. It felt weird looking at it now. The flirtatious and boastful Kirche, looking timid right in front of her bully victim. While it unnerved her, she her face remained as stoic as a person waking up in the middle of the night. Louise didn't hide the tired look in her eyes and Kirche caught sight of this.

"A-am I bothering you?"

Louise stared at her for a while longer before giving out a tired sigh and shook her head. She opened the door, allowing the Zerbst in. They made their way in the warehouse, at the same time Louise commanded a considerable amount of nanomachines and told them to construct a small round table with two chairs. Kirche watched with tired wonder as the table and chairs slowly formed from the ground up.

"Anything you want to drink?"

Kirche snapped her neck to the left to see Louise holding what looks to be a black kettle. She gave her answer by just saying 'tea'. Louise headed off to the back and took the preferred drink. Afterwards, she went out from the back and pumped water out of the water pump until the kettle was full. Controlling the nanomachines that make up the kettle, they started to vibrate violently to the point that they started producing heat.

It didn't take long for the water to boil and along the way, she took two small jars that contained both sugar and tea powder. Reaching the table she put her hand out and willed more of her nanomachines to form a teacup. It formed just in front of the designated seat for Kirche. She made her usual blend, two teaspoons, she left the jar of sugar open in case Kirche didn't like her blend.

Louise looked at Kirche who was still stunned at what she's looking at. Kirche finally realises that she'd been staring at the table for a few seconds now made her blush slightly. She gingerly reached for her seat, gently touching it, worried that it just might collapse at a single touch. Fortunately for her, it didn't. She sat on the chair and took a small sip of the tea Louise made. Silence reigned in the warehouse as Kirche reached over for the jar of sugar.

Once she was sure that the amount of sugar was enough, she brought it up to her lip and took a long sip. Relief washed over her as her tired body revitalizes even for a small amount. Now comfortable with her surroundings, Louise spoke.

"What are you doing here, Kirche?"

There was a moment of silence as Kirche stirred the tea in a with a blank expression. This moment of silence continued on and slowly her face becomes contorted, she wanted to say something to her but she's afraid that what she would say might offend her. Louise on the other hand was slowly getting irritated by continuous stirring along with the fact that it was already so late in the night. She looked at the top right corner of her vision to see what time it was.

_1:32 A.M._

"_It's getting late, Kirche might stay like this for a while, I'll just quickly close my eyes,"_ She thought.

"Why did you do it?"

Louise eyes snapped back open as she heard her question. She met her curious and scared eyes. She knew what Kirche was talking about but that didn't stop the frown that she showed. Shuffled in her seat, she felt like she was being evaluated under Louise's gaze. Another wave of silence came over the two as Louise tried to ease up on her words and how to answer her question.

"Kirche… you need to understand, snapping that boy's neck was something that I didn't want to happen,"

Kirche then furrowed her brows at that answer. _If you didn't want to kill him then why did you still do it?_ She wanted to tell that to Louise but at the same time, it looks like she wasn't done speaking, so she held her tongue.

"But at the same time… it was something that I wanted- no _craved_ to do,"

Kirche was now uncomfortable from where she's sitting, is she insane? Louise wanted to kill him but at the same time she doesn't? This sounds like one of those broken serial killers she'd read in some books. The thought of a potential serial killer just within arms-reach of her was unsettling. Louise could see Kirche's face shift into an uncomfortable one, she can already tell that the misunderstanding will begin so she immediately spoke up.

"Kirche, look at me," The red-haired Germanian snapped her head up to meet Louise's pink eyes. "You need to understand something… I am broken, I know this and Bench knows this. He told me that it was something about my psyche being affected after being exposed to aerial radiation. I've managed to control it to some degree but in the end, it's become a part of me now… I've had this problem for five years already,"

There was a pause. "I can understand if you want to stay away from me after this conversation. I won't fault you,"

Nothing else was said as Louise stood up from her chair and led Kirche outside. Kirche walked up to her dorm a thoughtful expression on her face while at the same time she was concerned. Louise was broken, she said it herself. Kirche found herself now in her room, she dressed up in her nightwear and laid on her bed. While on bed she continued to sort her thoughts.

Louise was _broken_

She killed a student to save her

She almost got raped by said student

And to top is all off, the Familiar Festival coming up

This was too much for her in one day. Perhaps tomorrow, she might have a clearer mind than tonight, if so then she can sort all of these thoughts tomorrow.

Kirche's eyes closed and it wasn't long before she was taken to the world of dreams

* * *

**A/N:**** Here's the latest chapter, not a lot happened this chapter, only some building up. Kirche's finally working through the aftermath, Louise is confronting people. I'm already assuming that some of you are going to ask where Louise's sisters are during this entire chapter. There is a reason for them not being here because they will get their voice in the next chapter! Aside from that expect some world building of Earth in the next chapter since Louise will be explaining some details regarding Earth. (Well… my version of Earth that is)**

**Anyways without further ado time to read your reviews!**

**Lucian Naruto:**** Eleonore and Cattleya will be having a serious talk about what transpired in Kirche's room. I didn't show that in this chapter because I wanted the ones who are involved with Louise as friends to go first before family comes into play. **

**Also, even if Princess Henrietta witness Louise kill someone out of self-defence, that won't stop Vestro's family from doing everything in their power to make sure that Louise will get the 'justice' that she deserves. Two things can come from this, either the family will understand and will disown their dead son for committing a crime that can tarnish their reputation. The second option will be that they will hire mercenaries and assassins to kill Louise.**

**Touhoufanatic:**** It's not the fact that Louise killed a noble that scared them. If Louise gets into trouble with the family of Vestro, Henrietta has the power to stop that since she had witnessed what happened.**

**What horrified them is the fact that Louise can easily take a life, plus the fact that her psyche gets unstable when taking one.**

**ponyheart07:**** Nice poem and I agree with your last statement.**

**Guest:**** I don't really know if she'd pursued individual of the same sex. I've only watched the anime and apparently in the light novel, Kirche has a nickname for Louise. I forget what it was but someone told me that Kirche uses this nickname in an affectionate way. Though, Louise mistakes her affection as teasing hence why they never clicked.**

**Guest:**** I don't take all of the credit; I'd never have thought of this chapter if it weren't for Lucian Naruto giving me a more realistic point of view. **

**In my opinion, Karin never did torment Louise, it was Eleonore who did. Lucian Naruto's friend gave me a theory. Please read it as to why I agree with this.**

_**[Question: Why is Eleonore a bad sister to**_** Louise?**_**  
****Answer: The most pure and simple kind of envy.**_

_As we all know, it has never been revealed why Eleonore treats Louise badly, but in the fanfic, he is writing, my friend has come up with an idea that in my opinion is interesting. Eleonore is jealous of Louise._

_Why would she feel that way? Well, according to my friend, as we all know, Eleonore is Karin's firstborn. Since her childhood, Karin has always been VERY harsh with Eleonore. Due to her nature in the army, Karin even treated Eleonore almost as if she had been a soldier since childhood, and since Karin's husband is a useless man, he did nothing for his daughter._

_Karin treated Eleonore that way because she wanted her daughter to be strong and independent, but doing so from childhood only made Eleonore resent Karin and one day in the past, Eleonore's resentment against Karin reached such a high point that Eleonore in a 'training' tried to kill Karin... that's right, she attacked Karin with intent to kill, but obviously failed. This incident with Eleonore made Karin open her eyes, and she stopped this treatment. It took years for both of them to have a stable relationship again, but in the end, things went back to normal._

_Now you ask: Where does Louise enter this story? Well, after realizing the mistake she made with Eleonore, Karin in her own way tried to improve – which wasn't much but from her mess, Karin struggled to be a good mother. Due to Cattleya's illness, Karin always gave her gifts as several pets, and although she didn't seem to, she loved Louise so much that she always did what her daughter asked._

_She hired private teachers to teach Louise magic despite failing, she sent Louise to magic school at her daughter's request, and she even arranged an engagement for Louise with someone she believed could make Louise happy, (which failed miserably) Karin's big problem is that she's not very good at showing her emotions. And seeing the 'privileges' that Cattleya and Louise had, things Eleonore herself didn't have in the past, let's say she didn't have a good reaction._

_Cattleya escaped her sister's wrath due to her illness, but Louise was not so lucky. Private tutors, the kingdom princess's friendship due to Karin, going to her school of choice, and a handsome groom. Seeing all these things, Eleonore came to believe that Louise was a spoiled brat who never had to struggle to get things, she was jealous of Louise. For that reason, she was not a good sister to Louise._

_This irrational thought that Louise had all kept Eleonore from seeing that Louise just wanted the approval of the family, that she wanted to make her mother and sisters proud of her. Sincerely, we don't know the real reason for Eleonore in the series, but this idea of my friend is interesting and logical. Originally, Karin intended to make Eleonore go to the army just like her, but after the incident between them, Karin realized what she did and allowed Eleonore to follow her own steps, which eventually allowed Eleonore to become a teacher._

_Unfortunately, the damage was already done. Eleonore had control of her life, but seeing that Cattleya and Louise had more freedom than she had in the past left a bitter taste in Eleonore's mouth. Due to her illness, Cattleya did not have to suffer attacks from her sister, but Louise suffered the most from the envy that Eleonore felt. To tell the truth I may feel sympathy for her on this theory of my friend, but I can't forgive her releasing her frustrations on Louise.**]**_

**Like Lucian Naruto, I agree with this theory. I believe that Karin had nothing to do with Louise's torment. What Karin did however was instigate Louise's torment by spoiling her the wrong way. At the same time, I cannot fault Karin for this, the only knowledge she knew before Cattleya and Louise came around were during her time in the army. Some people adapt to certain things differently. Perhaps a different war veteran will be able to cope and support the family and become a loving parent. In Karin's case, she's slow to adapt to the life of a mother.**

**Welp that's all I got for today. I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter. A notification before I go.**

**I'm going to college!**

**While not immediate, it's an early message to you my fellow readers. My schedule will change when that time comes but at the moment, I'm still posting chapters weekly.**

**With that said and done I bid you all adieu!**

**Peace~**


	15. Hunter

**Hunt**

* * *

_Hunters_

_Aside from the massive railgun cannons, tesla towers and anti-air guns, Hunters are also another part of Bans' defence. They're the ones responsible for scouting out locations that could potentially threaten the floating city. Once they discover these locations, they will relay them to Bans'. Bans responds by levelling that particular location with their long-range artillery guns. This method has been used for decades already. Even the ever-adapting menace known as the Ravagers are not safe from Bans' artillery, the attack is just too sudden and too powerful that it doesn't give any of the Ravagers time to adapt._

_While Hunters are looked up on becoming one is no simple task. Once a Hunter, you cannot go back. Dangers can come in many shape or form. A Hunter has to be capable of handling these dangers without any hesitation. Should a citizen of Bans decide to become one they will have to throw away their humanity to become a Hunter. Their organic bodies are disposed of except the head as it will be the one who will control the machine._

_The first Hunters that were created were more machine and less human. The populace didn't like this idea at the time but had to deal with it just for their safety. At the time, families would weep and mourn as their beloved sons and daughters are taken away, only to return months later merely as a box of scrap metal, sometimes not even returning._

_As years progress, Bans' technology improved and after 25 versions, the 27__th__ version was introduced. At the time, Hunters still looked like machines but this time there was a difference, conscious thought. The 27__th__ version had allowed Hunters to regain some semblance of humanity. Hunters were able to restore and form relationships, despite the back draw of completely forgetting their loved ones, the fact that they can feel was an improvement._

_As it stands, there were 342 models of Hunters with the lasted one Model 343 being the latest. The Hunter's body is made up of synthetic skin that matches their original bodies. Their weapon systems include an ion blaster on their right arm, missile pod on their back shoulders and a heated blade on their left arm. Mobility of the Model 343 was dependent on the user and this would segregate Hunters into what classes they have._

_Nimble Hunters are named Kleiner Hunters, slow Hunters, Wolyn Hunters and people who stand in between are simply called Hunters. Kleiner and Wolyn are equipped differently than average Hunters. Kleiner Hunter specialize in scouting and quick and clean assassinations. Lockdown grenades are used to secure anything that's metal, ion blasters on both arms but the output is weaker than the standard ion blaster, heated blades that are capable of reaching insane temperatures. What separated Kleiner Hunters from others is the fact that they have an overdrive mode that allows them to amp up their weapons and mobility systems by 2000%! _

_The backlash for using overdrive however is painful for Kleiner Hunters and would leave them vulnerable to the next attacks. As powerful as the overdrive is Kleiner Hunters are advised to use it __**only**__ when they are sure that there are no other enemies in the vicinity after using it and their enemy should be on their last legs._

* * *

Under the shadow of the academy's walls, Louise watched the festival. It was already reaching it's end as the line of students vying for the princess's approval get shorter. She had seen every familiar and even recorded all of them. Reference for Bench as he told her that he wanted to analyse some of the familiars that were interesting. She didn't know what would catch the pod bot's interest so she just recorded all of them.

It started off simple enough, just some house pets like dogs, cats, birds and the like. As it went on, the familiars that were presented were becoming more bizarre. From a floating eyeball ironically called 'bug-bear' to something as large as the blue haired girl's dragon. While Louise would like to question who named the species 'bug-bear' the dragon was the one caught her attention. It wasn't as large as those dragons that she fought when she first arrived, so she assumed that Tabitha's dragon was still young.

Somehow though, she doubted that the dragon was old. From time to time, she had seen it display emotion. Either it was from Tabitha giving it more food or looking timid when it was being scolded by her. Louise assumed that it was of a different species then. Once Tabitha's presentation was done then came Kirche. She looked better than yesterday, she managed to finish her bit without any trouble.

The awarding ceremony had finally arrived and Louise could see Henrietta walking up to the stage and placing the medal over Tabitha's head. The other contestants clapped showing good sport, though she could see a handful of them not even hiding the scowls on their faces. Henrietta then walked up to the centre of the stage and proceeded to give the closing speech. Wind mages at the back used their magic to amplify her voice.

"That was a wonderful show and I hope that all of you had enjoyed it as much as I had. This festival isn't only a competition but to show how strong out bond is with out familiar. These faithful companions of ours will be the one who protects us from anything. Be it through physical or emotional, they have been our companions for centuries and they will continue to be for another,"

The audience applauded at the speech. Princess Henrietta bowed which prompted the contestants in line to bow as well. It was here that Louise took her leave. When Henrietta straightened herself, she saw Louise leaving, a small look of worry formed on her face but was immediately removed when she realized she was still in front of a crowd.

* * *

_Louise gave out a heavy sigh as she made her way back to the warehouse. A confrontation with Henrietta, while not welcomed, a necessity. She needed to tell her that she has changed ever since their last meeting. Which reminds her, how long had it been since they had met under casual terms. The mind recollected as hard as it could but not one memory appeared. Louise found this weird but it wasn't enough to warrant a concern._

_Becoming a Kleiner Hunter or any Hunter in particular had its perks but also their drawbacks. One in particular is memory loss. Due to the massive information being fed to them as they're being converted to a Hunter, a loss of memory is to be expected. Bans doesn't have the time to train their Hunters since the Ravagers are always on the move, as a solution, while being converted into a Hunter a training simulation is implanted in the brain. The training is equivalent to a year's worth of experience. What separates a good Hunter from a bad Hunter is how fast they can implement their training._

_Upon reaching the warehouse, Louise opened the door only to meet two more people she didn't want to meet at the moment._

"_Louise, we need to talk," Eleonore said, a neutral look on her face._

_Cattleya on the other hand didn't say anything and opted for giving Louise the same expression as their eldest. Louise made their way towards them, with each step that she took the uncomfortable feeling inside of her grew stronger. Nevertheless, she had to face them. Better tell them now than later. Now standing right in front of them, Louise tried her best not to make eye contact with them. They seem to notice this but didn't tell her to look at them, thankfully._

_There was a moment of silence with the only sound being the humming of Bench's propulsion systems. Louise tried her best to make herself presentable to themselves by standing straight while Eleonore and Cattleya were thinking long and hard about the questions that they were going to ask her. Impatience finally taking over, Louise spoke._

"_Is there anything that you guys want to ask?" Her tone told them that she wanted to be somewhere else._

_Cattleya and Eleonore looked at each other. The eldest one sighed and looked at her. "I won't question what you did… you told both me and Sister Cattleya what you've been through while living on Earth,"_

_Louise clenched her fist, "Don't you feel ashamed of me!? I-I killed that boy!"_

"_Y-you did…," Eleonore stuttered._

_Usually, she would've scolded her for doing something wrong by now. Killing another noble should've warranted a disowning of her but then she remembered what Bench told them weeks back._

"_**You know… she talked a lot about all of you… in her logs that is,"**_

"_**I don't know what's happening within your family – and I'm not going to pry but from old medical records I had taken from my memory, emotions like that are usually because she's being ignored,"**_

"_T-then why are you guys not giving any sort of reaction!?" Louise shouted. "Why don't you hate me! Scold me for killing a noble! Get angry! Disowning me is better than this treatment you're giving me!"_

_**SLAP**_

_Louise's head snapped to the left her body unprepared to harden from the slap. She straightened her head to see who was the one who slapped her. Standing just eye-level of her, Louise took a moment to realize, wondering that maybe she might have something wrong with her eyes because from the looks of it, the one who slapped looked closely identical to her._

"_I will not allow you to pursue that line of thought any further, Louise de la Valliere," Cattleya scolded her. "While I agree that killing that boy is bad, you need to understand that what you did is the right thing,"_

_Louise lowered her head. Shoulders shaking, the only indication that she was crying since they replaced her organic eyes with artificial ones. "B-but... he was a noble…,"_

"_He was going to commit a heinous crime, that will warrant death anyways," Eleonore said. Louise's head snapped to her making the blonde Valliere uncomfortable. "D-Don't get me wrong, I am upset that you saved a Zerbst… but even I wouldn't wish that on her, she should be thankful that you saved her. She should learn from this,"_

_Once saying her bit, Eleonore left the conversation and joined Bench, eager to be taught more. Cattleya giggled at the eldest before looking at Louise and grabbing her shoulder. Once she was sure that she had Louise's attention she spoke._

"_No matter what you do… know that me and Eleonore still love you… she just shows her affection in a different way,"_

_Coming to terms with that, Louise apologized to Eleonore for looking so pathetic. They stayed for a while, learning more about Bans and Earth until eventually night had fallen. Her sisters bid her goodnight and left. As the night went on, a knock made itself known. Rising from her slumber, she tiredly made her way towards the door. Opening it she was greeted with a shade of crimson._

"_Kirche?"_

* * *

"Some of these creatures are interesting, like that bug-bear," Bench said.

Said pod bot was floating still as he processed the recorded data that Louise had transmitted to him. Louise on the other hand was sitting on a nano created chair, giving the biggest bored expression she could conjure up. She had tried everything in the warehouse to stave off her ever-increasing boredom. Leaving flying away from the school is an option but she can't really do that at the moment due to an intruder being inside of the academy.

"Say, Bench, can we do another simulation?"

Before the pod bot could respond to her request, the door was busted opened. Louise and Bench looked towards the door to see a dishevelled Cattleya. Her breathing was ragged, her body was leaning on the door for support. Louise immediately came to help her.

"L-Louise…,"

"What's wrong?"

"I-Intruder…,"

As if on cue, something large broke through the warehouse's roof – a large boulder. Louise carried her sister and laid her down on her straw bed so that she can catch her breath. Afterwards, she walked outside to see a large rock golem hitting the main tower of the school. Aside from that, she can also see magic spells being casted but doing nothing on the elemental construct.

Her eyes zoomed in on the shoulder of the golem to see a hooded figure on it. Connecting the dots and understanding that the golem is being controlled by the figure, she immediately went to action. Going back in the warehouse, she made a glance at the boulder. She placed her hand a little further from her body commanded the nanomachines to construct a sledgehammer.

Once the tool was formed, she brought it up with two hands and smashed the boulder to pieces. She rummaged in the rubble for a suitable rock. Finding one that covered her palm she took it and went outside. Now standing outside, she zeroed in on the massive golem. The core in her chest glowed a bright pink as the nanomachines went to work.

First off, her legs started to thicken more and more weight is being distributed to her legs. The ground bent underneath the intense weight. Once she was sure that she won't get blown away with the idea she had she proceeded to form the next plan. She clasped her arms together and told more nanomachines to form a weapon. A deadly weapon that had been created just for the sake of piercing heavily armoured targets.

The railgun

The length of the weapon was three meters, it had two prongs and a space big enough for two hands to fit in the middle. At the very tip of each prong stood a stabilizer that will help Louise steady her aim. While the railgun was being formed the nanomachines also formed a thick wall behind her, a safety measure, ensuring that even with the added weight on her legs she can still right herself up when she's thrown off by the weapon's recoil.

This all happened in the span of three seconds. The space between the two prongs sparkled with electromagnetic energy. She created a floating claw to pick up the rock that she had taken from the smashed boulder and brought it to her hands. Her hands were located at the very back of the of railgun. Letting the rock go, it began to hover at the base of the weapon. While it wasn't the prefect ammunition, it'll have to do for now. The rock started to spin faster and faster. Once it had reached a whopping 500,000 rotations per second, she proceeded to aim it at the large golem.

An, reticule appeared on her sights, zeroing in on the golem she aimed directly at the centre.

"Eat this," Louise said while wearing a manic grin.

A loud splitting crack tore through the air followed by a deafening boom.

* * *

**A/N:**** What a way to start the battle. Tell me your thoughts, a lot really happened except for the heart to heart talk with Louise's sisters. Tell me your thoughts about today's chapter. Also, I want your thoughts about how Hunters are created. Personally, the Hunters bit is something that I really want your opinion on as it is part of the world that I have created.**

**Without further ado let's get into the reviews.**

**AnimeA55Kicker:**** Any assassin sent to Louise is easily dealt with. Louise isn't also one to slack off, once she finds out that assassins are targeting her, she'll make sure that connections with her family are immediately cut off. In the event that Louise's family gets in harms way, she'll immediately take action.**

**Indeed, I find the theory of Louise's lifestyle quite interesting as well.**

**Lucian Naruto:**** Let me put it out there right now. Louise will not get hurt by anything in Halkeginia, her nanomachine body's too advanced for the world. That's not to say that Louise is invincible, powerful as she may be, she's only one person. **

**I sure that this chapter explains the second question you have about Eleonore and Cattleya's thoughts about Kirche.**

**With all of that said and done, I bid you all adieu**

**Peace~**


	16. Wounded

**The Wounded**

* * *

_Air pressure assaulted Louise's as she soared across the skies. All around her she could see around a hundred Hunters flying in the same direction as she was. Behind her, the floating city slowly became smaller and smaller. She took a glance to her left to see a Kleiner Hunter performing weapon system checks for all of his arsenal. Another Hunter below the previous one had an anxious look on her face. To her right another Wolyn Hunter had a stone-cold look in his eyes, telling her that he's experienced an incident like this before._

_Aside from these Hunters, she also picked up radio chatter between two Wolyn Hunters. Nothing much noteworthy to pay attention to, just two friends talking bravado about how they will deal with the threat really quickly. She checked her radar, which was located in the lower left of her vision. They were close. Looking forward, she spotted seven dots that were getting more and more recognisable. Suddenly, her head was assaulted with a loud radio static._

"_Alright Hunters, we got ourselves a situation. If you take a look over at bearing 245 you will see the problem,"_

_Louise looked towards the bearing mentioned. Initially, she couldn't see nothing, only a massive expanse of desert. Her brows furrowed; she then commanded her eyes to zoom in. The ground was now closer than before to the point that she can even see some dried foliage on the sand. Scanning the same bearing from left to right, her results remained the same – nothing. She gave it one more look over._

_Sand_

_Sand_

_Sand_

_Dried foliage_

_Sand_

_Large black ball_

_Sand_

_Sa-_

_Louise took a half-second to realize the oddity on the sand. She refocused her sight at the black ball. The chip in her head began to scan the ball, giving information she needed. The results presented itself, it displayed some numbers that she didn't bother looking at. What she did look at however was the label above the information given to her_

**[RAVAGER MONSOON]**

**[RADIUS: 250m]**

**[THREAT LEVEL: 5/5]**

**[DISTANCE: 16.7 km]**

* * *

"Note to self: 500,000 rpm is too much even for a railgun," Louise groaned.

A large crater was formed from where she fixed herself. A large smoke screen had accumulated blocking any sort of vision within two meters. Even with the assistance of a nanotech wall, the recoil of the railgun that she had formed was still too much. Nevertheless, she still had to confirm the kill. Standing up like nothing had happened, her back shifted into its usual thrusters. Lifting herself up from the crater, she emerged out of the smoke and looked over to the direction where she fired her railgun.

If there was one thing that Louise admired about railgun cannons, it is their ability to absolutely destroy their target. The fact that what she fired was something akin to the firepower of an orbital cannon clearly showed its effects on the massive rock golem. She had aimed directly at its centre mass. From the looks of it, when that small piece of rock impacted the golem it punctured a massive hole while at the same time causing its upper torso to outright explode and scatter in a million pieces. In fact, the velocity at which the rock was going was so fast that she can see some clouds part.

Cutting her observations short since she still hasn't confirmed a kill, she flew towards the destruction. As large smokescreen had piled up due to the golem's collapse, preventing Louise from seeing anything past the smoke. Not a problem, with a simple thought process, Louise's vision changed from what she normally sees into thermal. Now, she can see multiple figures, all were in a prone figure and covering their ears. She winced and felt bad for causing them temporary deafness. Nevertheless, she can apologize later, the intruder is still out and about.

A solid minute had passed and her frown became deeper, despite having thermal vision, it seems that the intruder had eluded her. She tried looking for a figure moving away from the scene of battle, problem was, there were also other people further away from the fight. After confronting three people who were far from the fight, she concluded that none of them were the intruder. She clicked her tongue. It shouldn't be that hard to find the intruder, after all their ears should be the one that's ringing the most.

The smoke that had gathered had finally settled and from the looks of it, the knights, students, teachers and even Henrietta were regaining their hearing. Louise landed and approached Colbert, who was still rubbing his ears.

"Colbert!" she called out.

"Huh!?"

The fire mage looked towards Louise, "The intruder escaped,"

This made Colbert click his tongue. "We must consult with the princess, if I am right, then who we fought against was none other than Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt,"

Louise looked at him in confusion, "Who's Fouquet?"

Upon hearing that question, she could see Colbert seize up, this made the pink-haired cyborg upset. Apparently, they didn't trust her enough to debrief her about who their up against. She breathed out a 'really', her frown turned to a pissed look. Colbert started backing away, a cautious expression on his face, he even went so far as to aim his staff at her. Before it could get anymore worse, Louise managed to calm herself down. The core in her chest, which had unconsciously turned red returned back to a dim pink. The took a deep breath before asking him a question.

"What do you know about this Fouquet?"

Colbert hesitated to answer but spoke out nevertheless; a thief that's well known to steal artefacts and pricey items from nobles. A noble gone rogue. A square class earth mage. After hearing out Colbert Louise started thinking. Then, that's when it clicked.

"Can earth mages create tunnels?"

Colbert tilted his head in confusion, "A dot earth mage can make a small den a square class ca-,"his eyes opened wide in realisation. "You don't mean… actually it makes sense, earth mages thrive more underground, due to their capability to sense vibrations,"

"That, and because the ground is cold… cold enough so that the intruder could hide from my thermal vision,"

Colbert raised an eyebrow prompting Louise to sigh. Deciding that it's better to tell him now rather than have him pestering him about it, she explained her thermal vision and how she is able to see through the smoke using the body heat of each individuals. Of course, Colbert's reaction was to give her a look of doubt, Louise just shrugged, telling him that she's told him the truth and it's up to him whether he should believe it or not.

Looking to the side, she saw her old childhood friend using her water magic to heal some of the injured students who were caught in the crossfire. Louise approached her which prompted guards near her to grab their swords, in wary of her presence. Henrietta took notice of the sudden tension from her soldiers and looked at Louise, an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Princess, any idea how this all started?" she asked.

One of the knights that stood beside her grit his teeth and was going to give Louise a piece of his mind for speaking in such an impolite way to their beloved princess but was halted when Henrietta spoke.

"Once we proceeded with the awarding ceremony, a maid came running and started yelling about how there was a golem attacking the academy. When Captain Agnès asked where she pointed us to the direction. I rallied some guards while a few helped with the evacuation. Your sister, Eleonore was fighting the golem off when we reached the location, we tried everything in our power to destroy the golem but whatever we did, it would always regenerate its wounds. Just when we were running out of ideas a deafening boom overcame the entire school and the next thing I knew; the golem's upper torso had been blown away,"

Louise winced. "Yeah, that loud boom was because of me… sorry about that,"

Henrietta widened her eyes a mix of awe and disbelief that told her 'you seriously did that?'. The entire conversation wasn't missed by the other knights, the one beside Henrietta had a look of doubt in his eyes. Meanwhile, others didn't care what she said and opted for a more 'logical' reason as to how the golem collapsed. She didn't know what's more logical than a small piece of rock hitting a large golem at Mach 12. While Henrietta tried to grasp the idea of her childhood friend's capability to cause such a destruction something clicked inside of Louise's head.

"I-Is my big sister alright?"

That made the princess seize up. Her words stuttered as she tried to say something. This didn't bode well for the cyborg, her concern rapidly increasing. A few seconds of not hearing an answer, she demanded to know where her sister is located.

* * *

Cracks formed underneath Louise as she made a mad dash towards the infirmary, not once did she lose speed. Maids and servants who were running to and from, moved out of the way as soon as they spotted the barrelling cyborg. Worry etched on Louise's face as she neared the infirmary, where she was told where her sister was placed. Behind her and the one that mostly went unnoticed was her pod bot companion, Bench.

When she reached the door, she slammed it open it almost fell off its hinges. A long room that was filled with bed all lined up side by side. Water mages ran everywhere like a busy ant colony, treating injured students, servants and maids. Fortunately, the people who required medical attention were lesser than the water mages who were capable of healing magic.

Louise started to walk around, eyeing every single patient. And the further she went the feeling of dread increased because initially the patients who were closest to the entrance of the infirmary had injuries ranging from dizziness to a slight bruising. The further down she went the symptoms and physical conditions for each patient started getting worse.

It was when she finally reached the very end of the room did, she froze. Doing a small head count, she counted around nine water mages. From the looks of their faces, they all looked like they were struggling to save the person that was on the blood drenched bed. One of the doctors moved aside and started washing his bloodied hands. This action led to a series of reactions. First was Louise taking a look at whoever was on the verge of death, then she rushed towards the bed as fast as she could. Her eyes turned into pinpricks as she observed the almost dead patient.

The way how her chest moved paradoxically told her that might've broken several ribs. The open wound that's on her stomach, caused by a rock spike. Multiple bruises scattered her body, the _crushed_ right arm and left leg. Despite all of these the part that was the least damaged was the head. Louise locked on her face; she was unconscious for now but it won't take long before she'll remain that way forever. With a trembling hand, she cupped Eleonore's cheek. She ignored the looks that the water mages were giving her. One of them whispered to another, questioning as to who she is.

"How is her condition?"

That left all of them in confusion. One however, answered. "She has multiple broken ribs, a crushed arm and leg, internal bleedings and a stab wound. We're trying our best but she's losing a large amount of blood,"

While the last bit was a standard way of ensuring Louise but from how grim the atmosphere feels and how tired the water mages look, she can tell that her sister's life is slowly slipping away from their hands. She needs immediate treatment right now, possibly even a serious surgery. Louise took a deep breath before turning around and looking at Bench.

"Bench, do you still have those files about medical surgeries?"

There was a short silence as Bench searched through his whole memory banks. Two petabytes worth of information dismissed as the pod bot searched for the information that Louise needed. Less than ten seconds later, Bench gave out a pinging noise telling her that he had found it. Louise gave the pod bot a nod before turning around exposing the nape of her neck. The synthetic skin separated and what was pushed out was a small chip. A compartment opened up in Bench front revealing a small claw which took the chip. Afterwards, Louise fell unconscious.

Due to nothing taking control of her brain, the nanomachines also collapsed and what was left was a black puddle of nanomachines that looked like ashes and Louise's head. One of the water mages, a female fainted at the sight of the head while another tried his best not to throw up. If Bench had eyes, he'd be rolling them right now. He poured all of the knowledge he'd rummaged from the Pre-War Earth about medical sciences into the chip. This took a solid thirty seconds of the water mages trying to get their bearings together while Bench transferred and backed up his databanks.

Once the transfer was done, the chip came out the same way it came it, through a claw. He tried reaching for Louise's head but since, it was tilted in an angle it made it difficult for the pod bot. If he could sigh, he'd be doing it right now. He turned and faced one of the water mages, a female who looked like on the verge of fainting.

Beggars can't be choosers he supposed.

"Hey," this made the mage flinch but she looked at him. "Pick up Louise and face her back towards me,"

"B-b-but I-I-,"

"Do you want your patient to live?!" Bench said while giving out alarmed pings. She nodded and with shivering hands, she kneeled down and took Louise.

Her skin crawled and her arm hairs rose as she picked the head up. It felt like she was holding an actual head, the synthetic skin didn't help. Once she faced the nape of Louise's neck to Bench, the pod bot inserted the chip back into the small spot where it first came out. The chip was taken and it took a solid second before Louise's eyes opened.

This prompted a shriek from the woman who was holding her and through sheer terror of holding a head let Louise go. Fortunately, she didn't land on the ground since the moment she regained consciousness the Ravager Core reawakened and instantly gathered all of the nanomachines. Louise's body reformed in mere seconds making everyone in the room who was watching look with awe.

A few seconds passed before Louise finally processed the new information given to her. Her back started growing arms with each one holding a specific surgical tool. One arm which was a needle lowered towards Eleonore, the needle pierced her skin. She took a small sample of blood before removing the needle. Her robotic mind analysed the blood and started triangulating as to what blood type her sister was.

"A negative," Louise muttered.

Now the next problem presents itself. Finding a donor with the right blood type. Fortunately, she already has nine unwilling subjects. She pointed a finger towards one of them, a male, young with some level of experience. She asked him for his arm to which he was about to reject but was then silence when she gave him a harsh glare. A needle and an analysis later found that he was a B positive. She repeated this process for the rest and found that out of nine, only three were compatible with Eleonore's blood type. An O negative male, and two A negatives female and male. Separating the three from the others she looked at them.

"I'm going to need your blood; I'll transfer some of your blood to Eleonore so that she'll live longer. Understand? If you feel dizzy later on, switch with the other person… you can ask questions later. Right now, we need save my sister, understand?"

Even though there was hesitation in their eyes they agreed. They didn't know what they were signing up to but from how they looked at Louise they could tell that she knew more about the current situation than what she lets on. Her nanomachines formed a small tube followed by the formation of two needles on both ends of the tube. One for Eleonore and one for the blood donor. The first one who stepped up was the O negative male. Louise punctured the needle making him wince. Afterwards, she pierced the needle through Eleonore non crushed left arm and began the blood transfer.

She then looked at the remaining mages who didn't qualify. "Do you guys know ay spells that can numb the pain?"

All of them started fidgeting in their place, feeling inadequate but a hand from the back rose. Pushing past the group a middle-aged woman with raven black hair met Louise. The cyborg nodded and turned towards Eleonore.

"Alright, I'm going to ask you to numb certain body parts… could you do that?"

"Yes,"

She back towards the remaining five water mages. She asked them to search around the school for ingredients that could make dextrose. While not hospital quality, it should be enough. They all nodded and left the infirmary. Louise took a deep breath before the nanomachines covered her mouth. She then formed another mask and give it to the mage in charge of applying anaesthesia. Louise closed her eyes before opening them again, a determined look in her eye.

"I'll save you, sis,"

* * *

**A/N:**** I bet you didn't see that coming huh? With Eleonore mortally wounded and everybody in the school licking their wounds what are they going to do? Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt is still on the lose and despite the being an exceptional earth mage, Eleonore still lost! Tell me your thoughts about today's chapter. I'm open to assumptions, if you can, try and guess what's in store for Eleonore in the future chapters!**

**In any case, I hope all of you enjoyed today's chapter. Initially, I was thinking of having Louise and Fouquet duke it out in this chapter but I changed my mind. What I want is more development for both Louise and Eleonore. Is it too much for Louise to suddenly gain knowledge of modern medical science? Is it too convenient? Tell me in your reviews!**

**On separate note, I'll be taking a break... I'll be celebrating Christmas! Once that's done expect for me to return! So for now, I bid you all a Merry Christmas!**

**With all of that said and done, time to read the reviews!**

**Lucian Naruto:**** With the newest chapter things will definitely take a massive turn for Eleonore. Based on the severity of her injuries she'll be having problems sleeping. Question is, will she be able to recover from this or will she remain haunted by her phantom pains. **

**And with that I bid you all adieu!**

**Peace~**


	17. Tracking

**Tracking**

* * *

"_Louise!"_

_Her muscles tensed up and her eyes snapped open. She eyes snapped left and right, looking for anything that could become a threat to her. The more she looked around though the more confused the got but that confusion was quickly quelled when she finally realised that she was not in the midst of an intense battle but inside of her room. Her vision was then swallowed by a concerned Alban. Louise groaned and sat up, nursing her head all the while._

_A moment of silence graced the couple as Louise calmed herself. Alban brushed her hair to the side as she patiently waited for her beloved to calm herself. Her concerned look turned into that of compassion as she stretched her arms outwards, inviting Louise into an embrace. Like a moth drawn of light, Louise pounces on the opportunity and hugged Alban as tight as she could, fearing that it might be the last time they shared this intimate contact._

"_I'm scared," Louise whispered._

"_I know, honey," Alban said as she patted Louise's back. "I know,"_

_Afterwards, Louise began to sob, muttering phrases like 'I tried', 'I just saw them yesterday' and many other phrases that associated with a person who had just been through a rough time. It had been six months since Louise had joined the Hunters and even though she had rose up in terms of ranks, Louise's multiarmed girlfriend was glad that she was still the Louise that she had met and loved despite having seen first-hand at how cruel the world outside of Bans is._

_She couldn't really sympathize with Louise, instead what she could do at the moment was to be her crutch for the time being. She had been sent back for lashing out on her captain when she'd been ordered to do something that she strongly didn't like but that didn't mean it was over for the pink-haired cyborg. She'd only been instructed to leave for a few days, only until she could control her emotions. Such is the way of the Hunter, in the open and harsh lands beyond the floating city, emotions could only bring detriment in certain situations._

_Often than not, Hunters would create metaphorical walls, blocking others and preventing them from creating a relationship deeper than acquaintances. It is not a surprise when a Hunter gets defensive and unconsciously display some rude behaviour when approached by a person who just wants a simple conversation. Others couldn't even begin to make these walls and opted for more emotional backlash. Louise herself has built walls around her, it just so happens that during a particular mission, her walls broke down._

_Louise's sobbing had finally ceased, Alban pushed her away to take a look at her. Once they locked eyes with each other, Alban smiled._

"_Why don't we go outside? You've been cooped up in your room for a while now,"_

_The hesitant look that she gave made Alban furrow her brows. This wasn't missed by Louise as she seized up. "O-okay,"_

* * *

Cattleya sat in the room that was given to her and Eleonore, unease constantly gnawed at the forefront of her mind, her foot kept continuously tapped on the wooden floor, not caring for the people who stayed just below her. Hours had already passed since the attack of Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt and if she were to believe Princess Henrietta's words, her eldest sister was mortally wounded. She carried her weak and frail body towards the infirmary where she was prevented access by water mages. When she demanded to enter, the reply she received was:

"_Please wait in your room, the one helping Eleonore Vallière will come to your room once she is done,"  
_

She wanted to press on but try as she might, her body couldn't allow her. Begrudgingly, she had agreed and had one of the water mages escort her back to her room. That was three hours ago and right now, her worries are taking over. Standing up, marched her way to the door only for it to open wide, revealing a dishevelled Louise. Eleonore watched Louise with bated breath, no sound escaped from both mouths with the only noise being the groaning of strained wood due to Louise's weight.

Louise locked gazes with her sister. She looked away for a moment, a hint of hesitation, fumbling in her mind as to how to lay it on Cattleya as gently as she could. Realising that there were no corners that could be cut, Louise gave out one large exhale and was about to tell her the results only to be cut off when she spoke first.

"Is she fine?" Worry and distress plastered on her face.

She paused for a moment, "She had multiple mortal wounds; broken ribs, a stab wound, two compound fractures, a collapsed lu-,"

"Louise, is Sister Eleonore fine?" Cattleya demanded, each word laced with exclamation.

A long silence graced them. Time seemed to have lost all meaning as Cattleya fell to her knees. Tears streaming down her face as she tried to grasp on to the idea that her eldest sister is de-

"She's fine,"

"Huh?" Cattleya said dumbly.

"She's in a coma… I don't know how long it's going to take but… she'll live,"

If Louise didn't weight 3.43 tons right now, she was sure to be knocked down on the floor as Cattleya charged her and hugged her as tight as she could. Crying while thanking her repeatedly. While this might be something to celebrate for her sister, Louise expression was still dark. Pushing her away she looked down while giving a scornful look. Not at her sister, the look was solely for herself.

"I…I don't understand… she was on Death's doorstep… I-I had to amputate two of her limbs! She'll be living the rest of her life as a cripple! Why are you happy!?"

Cattleya gave a confused expression before she smiled and with her left hand, nursed Louise left cheek. "She's still alive… that's all that matters at the moment,"

The two continued to hug for a few more seconds before getting interrupted by the sound of an opening door. Both heads looked towards the door to see a musketeer standing straight. Their curiosity was answered when the musketeer told them that Louise was needed in Old Osmond's office immediately. Quick farewells were given before Louise was escorted to the office.

After a long silence down the hallway, she finally reached the office. Opening the door, she was greeted with a group of people. Students with a purple scarf around them stood off to the side, presumably the seniors, Professor Colbert stood beside of the headmaster while the secretary stood from her desk, finally in the centre was Princess Henrietta along with the captain of the musketeer brigade, Agnès de Milan.

A cough escaped the princess's mouth before she began. "With everyone finally present shall we begin?"

A moment of silence to signify that no one wanted to interject before the princess began to retell the event that had happened roughly two hours ago. As she told this, all were listening carefully. With that said, she finished her anecdote with a sentence that made Louise's core glow red hot.

"…fortunately, the enchantments to the tower stood strong as time and we can all finally return back to the festival,"

The atmosphere of the room suddenly dropped when they suddenly heard a loud and deep humming sound. All ears traced towards Louise whose body was lit with deep red neon lights. Her closed fists trembled almost like a volcano on the verge of erupting only stopped by an unknown force. Taking a step closer to the princess, she didn't care about the spiderweb cracks that formed around the limestone floor. When the captain realised what was happening it was already too late. Louise grabbed Henrietta by the scuff of her clothes and brought her closer to her rage induced face.

Louise's breathing was heavy, steam kept getting pushed in the princess's face. Meanwhile, Henrietta tried her best to remain a straight face but it proved near next to impossible when she could practically feel the amount of killing intent being directed at her. The loud clanging sound of metal echoed in the room. All heads except for Louise and Henrietta looked towards Agnès. The captain had swung her sword as hard as she could at Louise only for her sword to meet the end of Louise's highly compacted nanomachine body, the vibrations of the collision travelled through the sword and towards Agnès hand making her yelp in pain while letting go of her sword.

Not missing a beat, she quickly grabbed her holstered flintlock and aimed it at Louise. Pulling the hammer, she pulled the trigger. A loud and sharp bang was heard making the other people in the room clutch their ears. Smoke from the gunpowder covered Louise's face preventing anyone from seeing how gruesome Louise's fate had ended. Their expectations were however shifted when the smoke finally cleared up revealing Louise still standing. She held Henrietta up with her left hand while her right hand was raised into a fist.

The tension in the room was so thick as Louise slowly swivelled her head towards Agnès. Surprisingly, the captain didn't back down from Louise's gaze and only battled it with a glare of her own. A few more seconds passed as both soldiers of war looked at each other. The first one to relent was Louise, closing her eyes, she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. It gave positive results as the neon lights that were traced around her body died along with the bright glow of her core.

She brought she relaxed her closed fist releasing a small black ball which had made and audible thud in the room. After that, she slowly dropped Henrietta as well. Once the princess was on the ground, Agnès sprung into action and made a mad dash towards Henrietta. Meanwhile, Louise stepped back and began making her way towards the door only to be stopped when she heard Henrietta ask her a question.

"Where are you going, Louise?"

"…Hunting,"

No more words were exchanged during that time as Louise swung the door so hard that it's hinges were taken off.

* * *

Hours had passed and night had finally fallen. Inside of the infirmary, Louise looked at Eleonore with a sombre expression. The places where her right arm and left leg should be were wrapped with plenty of bandages, that was just the icing on the proverbial cake as the rest of her body were too, wrapped in bandages. In a morbid humour, it looked like she was like those mummies Louise had read up in the datafiles of Bans.

"Louise, you're still awake?"

The cyborg turned her head, meeting eyes with Cattleya who was already in her night gown. Cattleya rounded the bed where their eldest sister laid sleeping and sat just across her. A long moment of silence graced the two as they both watched their comatose sister. Their silence was finally broken when Louise spoke up.

"I'm going to find out who did this,"

Another moment of silence before Louise decided that she had enough, she stood up and left the infirmary. Under the gaze of the two moons, Louise made a beeline for the warehouse. She opened the door to the warehouse revealing a still floating Bench. Curiosity overcame Louise's initial rage and was about to ask when Bench answered her impending question.

"I had just started teaching her the beginnings of advanced chemistry," He beeped before pausing for a moment and continued. "Maybe, I want payback for hurting my student,"

Louise gave a small grin at the pod bot before bidding him to follow her. The pair made their way towards the place where the battle took place. While the rocks that were used to create the golem were placed aside, other than that, the place had looked like nothing had just happened which would make it harder for any normal investigators since all of the potential evidence has been removed.

Unlike normal investigators, Bench and Louise thought differently. Knowing that the one behind the attack was an earth mage in addition to the useful information given by Colbert that earth mages, at least of a higher calibre, are capable of creating a large network of tunnels. With that in mind, they knew what to look for. The pod bot's bottom side opened up, revealing a slowly rotating drill which started to increase in speed. Just like last time when Bench created a simulation to test Louise's Ravager body, he dug himself until the only thing that remained was his top dome.

Bench's body opened up and started sending signals outwards which helped map the entire underground. Even though what he got was just continuous dirt he didn't care, he knew that there is information in everything, like how recent the dirt was moved. Moisture, texture, pockets of air and even down to its particles were scanned. He triple-checked everything, ensuring that what he's seeing is consistent, if it reveals consistent results then that means the dirt hasn't been disturbed, if it doesn't, he'll follow that lead.

A few more minutes of scanning the ground and he had finally found it. A small pocket of air that didn't look like it belonged underground. He unrooted himself and floated his way towards the spot where the pocket of air was, once he was above, he dug himself again and scanned.

"Bingo," he beeped.

"Got something?" Louise asked.

Bench gave a drawn out 'yep' as he started tracing the inconsistencies. He had to give credit where credit was due, the thief really tried hiding themselves, if he wasn't scanning the ground up until to its particle, he too would've missed the buried tunnel. Fortunately, he didn't have to scan for long as the buried part of the tunnel ended and what followed was a large section of the underground taken.

"Found the tunnel,"

"In five minutes?" Louise said in a mocking tone. "You're getting slow, Bench,"

He blared out a loud sound before speaking, "Oh please, find another model like me and we'll see who's the fastest,"

Bench uprooted himself once more before floating towards the open underground section, which went under the wall. Louise and Bench launched themselves over the wall and out of the campus. Once outside, Bench pointed where the tunnel would be and Louise went to work. Willing the nanomachines in her body, her right arm shifted into an ion laser, the ion laser hummed with a high pitch before getting shot on the ground. Louise then carved a circle, making three meters of dirt fall down.

Louise gave a mental command and her eyes started to glow a bright green. With the provided night vision, Louise jumped down the hole she had created. Her mouth slowly formed into a feral grin but as stopped when she heard a voice from above the hole. Looking up, she locked eyes with a tired Kirche, arms wrapped around her exposed shoulders as the cold winds licked her body, it didn't help that the only thing that she was wearing was a night gown.

"What are you doing still awake?" Louise asked more out of confusion than irritation.

"I…I couldn't sleep, I looked outside and I saw you…uh…," Kirche hesitated before continuing what she said. "What are you doing?"

Louise looked away and focused on the tunnel. "Tracking,"

"Oh…,"

There was a moment of silence. Louise just staring at the never-ending tunnel while Kirche looked at the two moons that watched over her. A few more seconds passed before Kirche took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly which made the two robots look at her. Kirche looked back down to Louise a grin on her face.

"I'll help!"

A pause

"What?"

Kirche shrugged, "I said I'll help,"

Louise closed her eyes, irritation already settling in. "No, I heard you and no," Louise said with finality.

Kirche shook her head. "I never asked for your permission," She then placed her arms on her waist, a confident smile on her face, "My honour won't let go of the fact that a Vallière saved me,"

"I said n-,"

"Ap!"

"Kirc-,"

"Apap!"

Louise closer her eyes, inhaling and exhaling as much as possible, once the glowing of her core died down, she looked up at Kirche. "Fine… but don't expect help from me!"

"Hmph! I can take care of myself, thank you very much!"

Louise sighed before leaving the hole and started to walk towards the wall. Before launching herself up, she turned her attention to Kirche. The red-haired girl tilted her head in confusion, only to yelp when she got swept up her feet. Instinctively, Kirche wrapped her arms around Louise. She locked eyes with the cyborg and for some reason she couldn't explain, her heart began to race, her cheeks turned a shade of pink. On the other hand, Louise shifted her back into thrusters and without any warning, Louise jumped over the wall, Kirche took a sharp intake of breath as she watched the ground go further and further, unconsciously, her hug around Louise also became tighter and tighter as gravity began to take place once more.

She had expected a loud thud only to her surprise, she landed softly on the ground. Realising that the impromptu ride was over, she immediately let Louise go as soon as Louise allowed her some footing.

"You better be up early or I'm leaving you behind,"

"R-Right," Louise raised an eyebrow at the weird answer but disregarded it as she walked her way back to the warehouse with Bench in tow.

Kirche on the other hand stood on the same spot where Louise had dropped her off, her right hand close to her chest, confusion was on her face but in the centre of that was a small smile.

* * *

**A/N:**** HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THOSE WHO ARE BORN ON THE 31****ST**** OF DECEMBER AS IT IS ALSO MY BIRTHDAY! ALONGSIDE THAT I WISH ALL OF YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**With that said, I hope you all liked this chapter. Tell me your thoughts about the situation that Louise is currently in. Her constant cold shoulder to Princess Henrietta and a sudden act of kindness to her old-time rival.**

**Time to read the reviews!**

**AnimeA55Kicker:**** I'm not going to spoil to you what's going to happen to Fouquet. Perhaps, she'll live, perhaps she'll die. You'll just have to wait for the next chapter!**

**Touhoufanatic:**** Did you expect her blood type to be A negative? I'll leave it to your imagination as to what will happen to the now scarred Eleonore :D**

**torvalds42:**** Thank you for taking the time to read my work! The world where Louise came from is a harsh and cruel one. A world that I've designed and I hope that you will like this world that I've made.**

**Lucian Naruto:**** Well I hope this chapter answers your first question. I hope that it didn't feel forced at all. For your second question, considering that Kirche had managed to still do her stunt for the festival I think she's handling the situation pretty well… or is she? As for Henrietta? Hm… well not much can really be said about her right now since she had just joined the cast a few chapters ago. Maybe she's a coward or maybe she'll inspire courage, either way, you'll see as the story progresses.**

**I have to agree with you at how funny it is to look at Agnès and her battalion when they even think about fighting Louise. They don't really know how capable she it, the only thing that they know is that Louise has some serious anger management issues and a broken mind, which of course sets them on edge whenever she's near the princess. Also, I hope you liked that little flex I did when Captain Agnès shot her flintlock at Louise in the office… consider it my Christmas present to you :3 since you've been such a big help in helping me know more of the characters of this anime.**

**With that being all said and done, I bid you all a happy New Year! May 2020 be a fruitful year for all of us!**

**Peace~**


	18. Confrontations

**ANNOUNCEMENT**

* * *

**Hello fellow readers, it's me, Imaginationsburstingout. Sorry for the late upload. Things have been hectic recently. College had just started and I'm still getting used to how things are. Uploading new chapters might not be on the forefront of my mind in the first month. I promise that things will return in the future but for now, I need to get used to things. **

**If you want to keep track of my situation, I have a Discord account and I'm more than willing to talk with you and keep you all updated on my situation or if you just wanted to talk to someone! My Discord account is:**

**Imaginationsburstingout#1950**

**With that being said, I hope you enjoy today's**** chapter!**

* * *

**Confrontations**

* * *

"'_This mission is going to be easy' my ass!" Louise yelled out of frustration._

_Just as she said that, the cover that she was using was blown to bits by a massive metal fist. Her eyes widened when that same fist suddenly pulled out wrist chainsaw blade. The fist closed in on her fast enough that she didn't have time to run away. Putting both of her arms up and deployed the arm shields she faced the chainsaw blade head on._

"_I'll destroy you and harvest your parts just like your other Hunter buddies!" the owner of the fist said._

_Louise grit her teeth, her servos running on override as she tries to keep up with their target's strength, which turns out to be a slowly losing battle as she is slowly getting overpowered by the monstrous strength. Shouldn't be a surprise since she is just a Kleiner Hunter, her body just wasn't built for strength, she's built for speed._

_And speed is what she'll use when fighting this enemy._

_At the last moment, Louise disengaged her arm shields and dropped her arms down. The spinning blade of destruction closed in on her neck but being the Kleiner Hunter that she is, she expected this and was already leaning backwards. While she succeeded in avoiding certain doom, what didn't survive was a small tuft of hair. Quickly righting herself once more, her thrusters came to life and she came out of her cover, finally getting a good view of her target._

_He stood at a tall height of 10'8'', easily doubling Louise's height. He didn't have a head, his body was wide but imperfect, scraps of metal plates all welded and formed together to make an almost impenetrable body, painted on his right pec was a red skull bordered with a spiked circle. His arms, though covered with plates were lanky when compared to his body. His lower half was made up of four treads with each were tracks thick enough that she knew none of her weapons would be able to penetrate or destroy._

_She didn't focus much on what his name was, all she knew was that this person had been assaulting and killing Enforcers for years now, raiding locations which contained important parts for Hunters. The situation got really problematic when his ambitions began to rise and started attacking Hunters, hence why the Hunters decided to hit back. Unfortunately, Louise and her group weren't the first Hunters to tango with the criminal. Two squads were sent and none of them returned and were presumed dead._

_Louise's eyes narrowed when his chest opened up, revealing hundreds of missile pods. In the centre of the missile pods, the criminal himself sat on his control room shielded by a glass, a sadistic grin on his face. _

_Just when the missiles were being launched, Louise activated her overdrive._

* * *

_The sound of glass shattering from above made the pink haired cyborg look up to see three Hunters of each classes. Louise chuckled to herself before standing up from her seating position and flew up to meet them midway._

_The Hunter in the middle, a Wolyn class looked at her with a grin. "See, what I'd tell you, easy mission right?"_

_Louise chuckled before punching him in the shoulder, "Shut up, Aaykay, I got my paint scratched for this!"_

_Aaykay laughed at this and responded with a mocked salute. "Roger dodger captain,"_

* * *

Louise's tapped on the ground repeatedly, impatience clear on her face as she looked at the door which led to a particular red head's room. For some inexplainable reason, Louise decided to wait on Kirche instead of leaving to continue her pursue of the thief who had mortally wounded her sister. She knew this was a bad idea since she's a liability. While she will admit that Kirche can handle herself, she doesn't really know how she would handle in the face of an actual battle, for all she knew, Kirche was just like those uptight nobles who are all talk and no bite. So why did Louise wait for her? Was it to get back at her for helping her or just pure curiosity or perhaps, a chance to prove herself to others that she's worthy of the title noble, a way to just gain a positive reputation? Louise didn't know and she will never care to know.

The sound of the door creaking brought her attention back into the real world, a frown started to settle on her face when she looked at who came out. She didn't like what she was seeing already and they haven't even left the campus!

"No," Louise said firmly.

The reason for this sudden rejection, was not because of Kirche, this rejection was pointed at the one who was beside Kirche. With an open book on one hand and a large staff on the other, Tabitha looked at Louise with slight confusion. Louise on the other hand scrunched up her face trying to tell Tabitha by expression alone what was obvious. Obviously, it didn't work.

"Don't give me that look, Kirche is the only one that I allowed to come," Louise said while crossing her arms.

"I can manage," Tabitha said.

The steel eyed look that Tabitha followed up brought some slight surprise to Louise but she didn't show it. Unlike Kirche, Louise could tell that there was some weight behind Tabitha's words. Both of them stared for a few more moments before the cyborg relented and gave out a sigh. She might as well come, just insurance that Kirche isn't going to get in to serious trouble. From what Louise could glean off of the blue haired girl, she was strong enough to summon a dragon familiar. Despite not being able to use magic for almost a decade already, Louise can still tell vaguely how much skill and power is required in summoning a mythological reptile.

While a headache was something of a rarity to Louise since she was 95% machine and 5% human, she could feel one coming up. She massaged her temples with her hand before doing some breathing exercises to calm herself. Once she was sure that she wasn't going to snap at the next thing that pisses her off, she looked to Tabitha.

"Keep an eye on her," Louise said while pointing at Kirche.

Kirche was about to retort and tell Louise that she can handle herself but she was cut off when Tabitha responded with a quiet 'mmm' followed by a nod. That simple sound that she made, followed by the gesture seemed to have given off a larger effect than expected as Kirche gave her a look of betrayal and started going off on a small rant about how could she do this to her friend. Of course, the only ones who listened to those words were the paintings on the long hallway along with the flower vases on the side.

A few minutes passed of total silence with the only sound of three footsteps and Kirche having a one-sided conversation with Tabitha. They had long left the girls dormitory and made their way towards the main gate of the school. When they reached that location, they then walked around the campus' perimeter and making their way to the western side of the campus. Rounding the final bend, Louise stopped in her tracks making the others do the same while also stopping the newest tale that Kirche was going to tell.

Standing in front of them were five guards, three knights and two musketeers, upon seeing the cyborg they all tensed up with their hands closely hovering over their weapons but the guards were simply the icing on the cake. With clear hesitation on their faces, they all parted revealing two more individuals, individuals that she didn't want to confront right now; Henrietta and Agnès.

The princess herself wore a neutral look on her face while her captain opted for glaring at Louise. Louise closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she continued to walk past the guards and past Henrietta and her captain. Not once did any of them utter a single word, past the princess was the hole that she had created last night. As she continued to make her way to the tunnel, Henrietta turned around and her voice pierced the silence.

"This isn't you, Louise,"

Louise scoffed at that before turning around to face Henrietta, a scowl on her face. "What do you know about me, _princess_?"

With pleading eyes, Henrietta replied. "I know that you wouldn't do something as absurd like this!"

Louise reciprocated by walking up to her. This prompted the guards to hold their weapons and began unsheathing them, Agnès included. While the guards were tense, Henrietta wasn't, she stared back at Louise, not flinching once. When their faces were mere inches Louise spoke with a low tone.

"Oh, trust me… I _would_ do something like this," she then backed away. "The Louise that you knew died in the unforgiving sands of the Amazon Desert eight years ago,"

Confusion began to wander in Henrietta's mind but she couldn't speak her mind because Louise immediately turned around and proceeded towards the hole before stopping and calling out to the two girls, sarcastically asking them if they're still going. This jarred the Kirche and Tabitha out of their small stupor. The pair of friends awkwardly walked past the guards and past the princess but they were suddenly stopped when a hand reached for Kirche's shoulder.

The red-haired girl looked back to see the pleading eyes of Henrietta, with a hushed voice that sounded louder than it seemed. "Please… watch over my best friend,"

Kirche didn't say anything and chose to smile and gave quick nod before chasing after the cyborg. Tabitha didn't say anything but still looked at Henrietta and did the same.

* * *

**A/N:**** Sorry if it's short and I'm sorry because I can't promise a longer next chapter. As mentioned above, if some of you skipped it, I'll say it again here. College just started for me and things are still hectic. Once my situation becomes stable, new chapters will come out weekly again. Unfortunately, for now, it's random updates. **

**If you want to keep track of my situation, I have a Discord account and I'm more than willing to talk with you and keep you all updated on my situation or if you just wanted to talk to someone! My Discord account is:**

**Imaginationsburstingout#1950**

**With that said, time to read your reviews!**

**Touhoufanatic:**** Indeed, there is psychological drama happening here. With Eleonore being a cripple for life, questions will be asked like how will she cope with it? Would she be given special treatment? Right now, she doesn't have to worry for she's still in a coma.**

**Lucian Naruto:**** Accurate grades for someone who's loyalty lies to Princess Henrietta. Louise didn't really consider Agnès to be a threat to begin with… in fact, she doesn't really consider anyone in the academy to be a threat. She knows how powerful she is and she knows when to use such power. **

**I have to agree with your last statement, with Louise being more independent than before, she doesn't have to prove anything to Henrietta since she knows that such things can only harms her either physically (even though it's impossible) or mentally.**

**Louise isn't vying for anyone's attention since she herself knows that she's powerful.**

**With all of that said, I bid you all adieu!**

**Peace~**


	19. An Eye for an Eye

**An Eye for an Eye**

* * *

"_What are we doing here, captain?"_

_Louise looked to her left to see her companion, Aaykay, a Wolyn class Hunter. The look of curiosity was on his face as he looked back at her. Currently, both were flying over the sands of the Amazon Desert. Louise gave a sigh and started to sort through her memory banks until she found what she wanted – a briefing of the current mission that they're taking. The mission itself was simply explained; the briefing told her of a potential Ravager within sector Z7, roughly 34 kilometres away from Bans. To the simple and ignorant ones, they might think that 34 kilometres is a far away location, but to the Hunters and Council members, that distance is too close for comfort._

"_So… what do we do when we actually see a Ravager in sector Z7? It's not like both of us are capable of taking it out, we need a whole battalion for this kind of mission,"_

_Louise grinned, "Listen well, rookie, while the Ravager is danger close, the Ravager is also under threat,"_

_Aaykay raised his eyebrow. It took a moment before the Wolyn Hunter realised what his captain was talking about. When she noticed his realisation, she grinned and spoke again. "Those guns in Bans aren't just for show you know, first we locate where the Ravager is, confirm that its in sector Z7 and we leave the rest to the guns!" _

_With Aaykay's curiosity sated, he looked in front of him, a feeling of eagerness welling up inside of him at the thought of Bans' legendary guns firing upon a Ravager. Seconds turn to minutes and minutes turns to hours before they finally reached the sector where there is a suspected Ravager. Both cyborgs started scanning the surroundings, looking for anything that's out of place, be it a black dot in the distance, a trail on the sand or a large area completely glassed by the Ravager's ever adapting arsenal._

_This went on for a few more hours, the sun had finally touched the horizon and a hue of orange engulfed the desert, the shadows of sand dunes and mutated plants lengthened giving off an ominous feeling. Louise and Aaykay sighed, showing clear signs of annoyance since they're both cyborgs, fatigue never even crossed their minds._

"_Say, is the Ravager even here Captain?" Aaykay said, boredom clear in his voice._

"_If the Council said that there is a Ravager here, then there is Ravager here. Protocol states that if they pick up signs of a Ravager, Hunters are sent and are told to search the whole sector for the next three days," Louise grinned. "Don't worry, most Ravagers are found within the second day and if we don't find anything then at least we can be assured that Bans isn't in danger,"_

"_I suppose… but isn't there a better way to pass the time while we search for it?"_

_Louise tapped her chin, a second later, an idea popped in her head, looking at the rookie Wolyn she spoke. "Want to hear some stories about me?"_

_Upon hearing that, Aaykay's face turned into that of shock, "W-Wait, f-for real!?"_

_Louise nodded, "ask me anything and I'll tell the story behind it,"_

_Aaykay's features then shifted into a frown, he closed his eyes shut, thinking of a good question to ask to his captain. His eyes opened and he looked at her, "How did you get the title of 'Devil'?"_

"_Urk!" Louise froze. 'T-That… I-I suppose I could tell you the history behind that…" she winced as her memories during that time start to catch up to her._

* * *

Boots on dirt were one of the sounds that were heards in the long, dark and damp tunnel, the dark however was pushed back when light suddenly filled up the tunnel. Tabitha set her staff down once she had finished casting a clairvoyance spell, a type of spell that will release a mote of light that will follow its caster. While it did provide light, which makes it easier for both Kirche and her to see and traverse the tunnel without tripping, the light was obviously not stong enough to reach the end of the tunnel.

Kirche looked at the mote of light with some slight amusement before looking to her friend with a smile. "Thanks, Tabby!"

The girl in question responded to her gratitude with a hum. Looking forward both noticed that Louise had been staring at them with impatience, while she wasn't rude enough to interrupt something, she certainly didn't hide the fact that they were wasting valuable time. This seemed to irk the red-head a bit and stepped up.

"Some 'thanks' would be appreciated since now all of us can see in this tunnel,"

Louise looked at Kirche with a deadpan look before turning around and continued walking. This rude display made Kirche cock up an eyebrow. Just when she was going to say the same thing again, she was stopped when a Tabitha's hand pulled on her school cape. Turning around, the blue haired girl shook her head left and right. Kirche seemed to contemplate on this before relenting with a sigh.

Louise, Tabitha and Kirche all continued walking down the long tunnel, boredom slowly clawing its way out of Kirche's mind. She tried to sate it by looking around, checking for anything that will give her mind something to think about even for just a few seconds. Unfortunately, all she could see was dirt not much can really be drawn out of something that she steps on in a daily basis. With nothing else to look at, she looked at Louise. She could certainly see and feel the difference between the Louise that she knew before and after the Familiar Summoning Festival. There was an air of professionalism around her, the 'no fooling around' kind of feel. Aside from that, their conversation from the other night made her look at Louise at a different angle.

As Louise told her, she had no qualms with taking a life and that she was already a broken person, what unnerved her was how easily she had accepted that. She had seen soldiers that work under her family name deny that they were suffering from traumatic events, hence why it makes her wonder why is she accepting about her broken state. Of course, she could assume that she's only saying that because she wants to stay away from her but how can she really think that when she had killed a student with a wide grin on her face.

Her thoughts were put on halt when she had noticed the walls of the tunnel brightening up. Further up ahead of them, they could see where bright light penetrated the tunnel and stretching its rays of light at them. Another minute of walking, they had finally reached the hole and climbed out of it. Once they were outside they were greeted by an open area surrounded with lush trees.

"This just makes things _so_ much easier," Kirche said.

Tabitha on the other hand doesn't say anything and turned her gaze towards Louise who was already looking down in the ground. Her vision was filled with grids that told her of indentations that were both natural and unnatural. There were footprints of creatures, one in particular was a fresh large four fingered paw that was three times the size of Louise's fist. While the pink haired cyborg knows that nothing in this forest can go toe to toe with her she should still take note of that footprint in the event that it comes back.

"Search for clues… anything that's been disturbed recently," Louise said before walking away from the group, still looking down at the ground.

Meanwhile, Kirche was staring at Louise's back, a look of offense on her face. Her brows slowly furrowed, she tried to get closer to give Louise a piece of her mind but she was halted when Tabitha's staff blocked her way. Kirche looked at the blue haired girl with an irritated look. To answer Kirche's expression, Tabitha merely shook her head before giving a vocal answer.

"Pointless, she's too focused,"

The weight of her words surprised Kirche, thinking about it again and the reason behind why Louise wanted to hunt this thief down, it wasn't for reputation, it was something that Kirche understood clearly and why she now understood why Louise was so… cold. While she wasn't being cold to them in particular, she could still sense the chilling aura Louise emanated. The motivation of wanting revenge was something that she understood all too clearly. Germania was a warring kingdom with multiple nations vying for complete domination of the continent, it was evident that a person that she knew would die during her family's ambitious conquest for the continent's rule. She knew the feeling of revenge, the only difference between her and Louise though is that she never acted upon it.

Not because she didn't have the power but it was more on the political side. Having a reputation of killing people from different nations will not bode well for her reputation. Especially since she knew she was just used as a bargaining chip for her father so that he will have more favour when fighting other nations. Wedding a noble that's double her age all for her father's benefit. She didn't like the idea of being used so when she finally came of age, she told her father straight up about how she loathed him and his stupid ambition. Of course, she received a harsh scolding and hard slap on the face but to her it was totally worth it.

Coming back to the current event she followed Tabitha, helping along with the search for any clues for the thief. The day went by quicker when no one found anything and before they knew it, dusk had reached, behind the forest, the sun begun its final descent and its two lunar siblings began to rise.

* * *

Louise deployed her flaps and broke right just in time to avoid a large arm made of stone. She turned around, facing the 200 feet stone giant. She berated herself for getting caught of guard, this had all started a few hours earlier when she had detected a trail. She didn't bother telling Kirche and Tabitha as she knew both girls would be deadweights and bringing them along brings the risk of casualties. The trail ended at an abandoned shack but a quick scan based on the dust placement in the place later found out that it was recently used; footprints were spotted and there were lines that were cleared of dust. When she entered the shack all she found was a crate. She didn't have time to fully scan its contents as the shack was promptly ripped out from its foundation. The one responsible for such wanton destruction was the stone golem that she's fighting right now.

She had led the golem far away from the search area so that it wouldn't catch the attention of both Kirche and Tabitha but such a tactic was merely temporary, the tremors of the earth can still be felt and it won't be long before both best friends make their way towards her direction. She has to stop this monster as soon as possible. She would've preferred to use the railgun on the golem once again but she knew that such an attack would further hasten the arrival of both Tabitha and Kirche so she had to come up with a new plan; slice it down to pieces.

She didn't know everything about her enemy so she needed to gather as much information as she could with the given time frame. She deployed her searing, chained, arm blades and with a boost of speed that brought her to subsonic speeds, she charged the golem. Dealing damage to the golem was easy enough; it was too large and its movement was really slow compared to her superior speed. Her first target was the golem's right arm, in a less than three seconds, she crossed the gap between her and the golem and within that time frame, she had also cut of the golem's right arm like a hot knife through butter.

The section of the arm where Louise chopped fell off, the magical essence which was holding the arm in place disappeared and when it fell down to the earth, it fell in a shower of debris. Louise showed some slight amusement when the golem looked at its amputated arm and back to her. Of course, being a magical construct, such damage meant nothing. Undeterred by the damage, that was cause by her, the golem pushed on and with its other, still connected hand, attempted to crush Louise with it.

If Louise had been a Wolyn Class Hunter, dodging such a large target would've been a little troublesome since she would've been build specifically for firepower. But she was not a Wolyn Class Hunter, she was a Klein Class Hunter; a Hunter that's built specifically for speed. So dodging such a large target like the golem, isn't a problem. Especially now since her body could pretty much model herself between both classes of Hunters. She swerved to the left, easily dodging the large arm in the process. She looked back at the golem and to her surprise, see that the other arm was slowly regenerating.

While the regeneration rate wasn't on par with Ravagers, regeneration is still a troublesome factor. But then Louise realised something, in that split second, her cybernetic mind scoured through her past and foggy memories, back when she was still the naïve and arrogant Louise. In this particular memory, she remembered vaguely that golems aren't autonomous; the word 'self-preservation' doesn't exist in their vocabulary. So for it to simultaneously fight her while at the same time regrow back its missing limb tells Louise that something is wrong. Right now though, it's not the time to think about what's wrong with such a statement, she needed to end this fight as soon as possible.

And she had just thought of a nasty way of dealing with it.

With a plan set in motion, Louise flew towards the golem. The nanites followed her orders and started to spread out. While the composition of her body decreased, the black 'mist' which surrounded the golem started to get thicker and thicker. At this point Louise's body had became tranlucent, her pink core was exposed but the golem was completely swallowed by the cloud of nanites. She raised her translucent hand and balled it up to a fist.

The nanites which were surrounding the golem closed in on it, seeping through the cracks and embedding themselves deep in. Using her thermal vision, she could see all of the nanites from both inside and outside of the golem. Finally sure that the nanites are completely dug in she gave the command to vibrate violently.

The golem started to glow a bright orange from the heat of all of the vibrating. Louise watched with a sadistic grin as the golem tried its best to walk towards her and deliver another punch but sadly that was not meant to be. Before it could even take its third step, the heat that the nanites are producing had already past the melting point of the golem's earthly coposition. The first limbs to give were the arms followed by the legs. Louise watched as the golem slowly melted away. Once she was sure that it was pretty much impossible to get back up, she gave the command to stop and another command to gather back to her.

Lesser than thirty seconds later, her body was back to the way it was. Once that was done, she activated her thermal vision and checked the molten rubble for anything. A manic grin came upon her face.

* * *

She was out of breath, she was tired and her whole body was covered in burns. She wanted to stop and take a break but she knew that if she stopped, she would surely die. That _monster_ destroyed her golem as if it was nothing. She had initially thought that hiding in the golem would've been a good idea.

How wrong she had been

If she had noticed it a moment later, she was sure that part of that rubble would've been warped with her own self. The cloak that she wore these past days was burnt beyond recognition, the cold air of the night licked her third degree burns which further brought more pain. Nevertheless, she continued to run. Carrying along with her was the case that she stole.

"_This blasted thing better be damned well worth it!"_ she thought.

She took another step before she noticed something odd happening; gravity overtook. She wondered if she had tripped over an outlying root or something but then she realised that she didn't feel her feet catch anything. Her vision then rolled as she saw the two moons then the dirt repeatedly before being abruptly stopped by something that hit the back of her head. Because of that something stopping her momentum, she was able to see her headless body on the ground, the area where she had been decapitated had been cauterised.

"Nice try," a voice said.

At this point, Death finally knocked on her proverbial doorstep and told her that it was time.

* * *

**A/N:**** I have semi-returned! On a more serious note, I sincerely apologise for the long wait. Things are still hectic and college isn't giving me any leeway to make some stories. Now, before some of you complain and say that this statement is a lie because I've been suspiciously active on the new story that I've posted called 'Terraria: Remnant Mod'. Let me just say that writing that story is relatively easier compared to writing 'Zero'.**

**Chapters only have 1,000 - 1,500 words at best hence why the posting of chapters is pretty fast. Another thing to note is how I harder it is for me to make something up from 'Zero' since the crossover that I'm making is a world that I have created on my own. Meanwhile for 'Terraria: Remnant Mod' the crossover consists of two things that I had known and I could easily make up a scenarion since I pretty much have all of the puzzle pieces.**

**Unfortunately, I still cannot come up with an update schedule. I will work on that soon enough, don't worry. So up until now, this is merely a surprise chapter. I cannot guarantee the when the next chapter will come.**

**With that being said. What do you think of the ending? Does the story feel rushed? Did I miss anything? Was Louise's decision to take on Fouquet alone the right thing to do? Please keep in mind that it has been a while since I wrote on this story so I am a little rusty. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.**

**With all of that being said, time to read your reviews!**

**Lucian Naruto:** **Perhaps another ulterior motive that Louise had when taking on Fouquet on her own was to prevent Kirche from experiencing another traumatic experience even though Kirche knows that in this chapter, killing is pretty much a must.**

**Arc-Angel-Of-Fire:**** I am terribly sorry for that last chapter. At the time all I thought about was 'I have to post this chapter before college starts'. But I hope that this chapter fixes that problem as I had made sure to include a reasonable stop to end.**

**Mike:**** I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but 'A Displaced Jason' has been put on hiatus for a very long time now. I don't even think that I might continue that story since I have completely lost interest on it.**

**With all of that said, I bid you all adieu!**

**Peace~**


End file.
